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OHRC investigates claim of citizen beaten up in custody

29 May 2021

The Oman Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has published a report on its follow-up on the claims that an Omani citizen was beaten up in custody. 

The OHRC ‘detection mechanism’, which was a standard measure of monitoring social media and electronic websites, spotted a visual clip about Omani citizen Abdulaziz Hamad Abdullah al Balushi contending he was roughed up in 2011.

Accordingly, the OHRC launched a probe to ensure the legal rights of the person under custody, to check his health condition and to verify the circulated matter in coordination with the departments concerned.

On May 28, the OHRC met Balushi, who, then, reported that he was treated decently by Royal Oman Police (ROP) personnel in charge and that he was enjoying good health.

He also said that the statements made in the video clip circulated via social media networks was not meant to claim that he was subject to beating by the authorities concerned during the 2011 events. 

He reported that, in that year, he was only 11 years old and that he was not present in the 2011 incidents. 

As for the traces of bruises that appeared on his back, he said, they were the outcome of a family dispute when he was young. 

He admitted that the “action he perpetrated (alleged abuse during 2011 events) was due to financial and family pressures”. 

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