Political Risk:
Critical
Score:
8/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
0/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
View Question
Oman is a bicameral system overseen by the sultan who holds executive powers as the head of government and state, according to Article 41…
Explore
As established above the al-Shura Council, the elected house is limited to the scrutiny of ministers. In articles presenting debates held at the al-Shura…
Explore
Article 8 of Royal Decree 86/97 states, “ministries, Government departments, public authorities and institutions shall cooperate with the State Council and Majlis al-Shura to…
Explore
Q2
0/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
View Question
According to the Majlis al-Shura website, there is the Department of the Defence, Security and Foreign Relations Affairs Committee, one of ten parliamentary committees;…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because, although the website of Majlis al-Shura mentions the existence of a defence committee, the committee…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because, although the website of Majlis al-Shura mentions the existence of a defence committee, the committee…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because, although the website of Majlis al-Shura mentions the existence of a defence committee, the committee…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because, although the website of Majlis al-Shura mentions the existence of a defence committee, the committee…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable because, although the website of Majlis al-Shura mentions the existence of a defence committee, the committee…
Explore
Q3
0/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
View Question
There is no reference to a debate concerning defence or security on the al-Shura website (1). According to our sources, there is no public…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no formal debate or consultation around defence policies or strategies within Majlis al-Shura,…
Explore
There is no formal debate or consultation around defence policies or strategies within the Majlis al-Shura. There might be some information about Oman’s strategy,…
Explore
The defence strategy and policy is not available to the public. According to our sources, these documents are hard to obtain and treated as…
Explore
Q4
0/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
View Question
Oman has no policy of openness towards CSO, especially regarding transparency of the defence sector to civil society (1). According to our sources, CSOs…
Explore
According to the Transformation Index report, “the Omani government does not permit the formation of independent civil society associations,” associations are required to register…
Explore
There are severe limitations placed on CSOs, which restrict their activities to culture (1), (2), (3). According to our sources, CSOs have requested (a…
Explore
Q5
50/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
View Question
Oman is not a significant defence exporter and has ratified the UNCAC Convention in January 2014 (1), (2). In August 2016 Oman ratified the…
Explore
Oman has compliance issues, although there is some evidence to suggest it has made initial attempts to formalise obligations from the UNCAC convention. One…
Explore
Q6
0/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
View Question
There is no public debate on issues related to the defence sector. This includes academics, journalists, and NGOs. The only available information is usually…
Explore
The government does not engage in any public discussion or debate about defence or security sector. It tries to hinder and stop such discussions…
Explore
Q7
0/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
View Question
Military law is a primary source for anti-corruption policy, but it does not include all forms of corruption and does not state corruption per…
Explore
This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because there is no anticorruption policy for the defence sector. According to UNCAC’s assessment report in 2015,…
Explore
Q8
0/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
View Question
There are no dedicated institutions in the defence or security sectors dedicated to countering corruption or building integrity within either sector. Within the armed…
Explore
This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because there are no compliance or ethics units in place in defence and security institutions. No independent…
Explore
Corruption is not a major issue within the armed forces, and therefore, such units do not look at corruption as a risk or try…
Explore
Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
View Question
This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Omani’s have trust in their government and the defence forces. With regards to corruption,…
Explore
Q10
0/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
View Question
There has never been any risk assessment of corruption within the sultan’s armed forces or the defence ministry. Corruption is not seen as a…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of any risk assessments conducted around corruption risks either within the…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of any risk assessments conducted around corruption risks either within the…
Explore
Defence Budgets
Q11
8/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
View Question
Acquisition planning is in place, but it is not clear as it is an internal process, not public, nor has a clear oversight. Acquisition…
Explore
The acquisition planning process is not transparent as most of it is single-sourced, or politically motivated in case of weapons purchases. There is no…
Explore
There is no external or internal oversight in the acquisition planning process. In most cases, defence purchases and acquisitions, they go through a single…
Explore
Q12
13/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
View Question
Q13
0/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
View Question
There is no legislative council in Oman, the al-Shura is only a semi-consultative body. It has not discussed or reviewed any of the defence…
Explore
This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because there is no legislative committee responsible for defence budget scrutiny. The al-Shura has no influence or…
Explore
Q14
8/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
View Question
The defence budget is made public through the Sultan’s first decree of each year (1,5). However, no details are published concerning the breakdown of…
Explore
The defence budget made publicly available (1), but most areas of the approved defence budget are not publicly available (2). There is a complete…
Explore
As established in sub-indicators 4A-C, civil society actors are severely limited to non-political activities in Oman through government licensing controls (1). Moreover, the Oman…
Explore
Q15
0/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
View Question
Published data on external defence income is sparse, state income (not solely defence) beyond central government allocation derives from the country’s Petroleum Resource Fund…
Explore
As established in sub-indicators 13A/B, there is no legislative committee charged with scrutinising the defence budget or defence expenditures. Though anti-corruption legislation is laid…
Explore
Civil society is severely limited in Oman (1). “Public scrutiny” only exists in cases where citizens are accused of defaming the sultan by the…
Explore
Q16
8/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
View Question
There is an internal auditing unit within the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces (1). This unit reports to the financial department and…
Explore
The internal auditing unit has no authority over MoD expenditures. It is solely a bureaucratic unit that delivers reports on deliveries and financial assets;…
Explore
There is no external oversight over the internal auditing unit. These units (external) do not exist (1), (2), (3).
Explore
This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because the reports of the internal units do not include any recommendations. Therefore, there is no way…
Explore
Q17
0/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
View Question
There is no external audit scrutinizing defence ministry expenditure. The State Audit Institute’s work is not inclusive of the defence ministry, and no reference…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of an external audit of defence ministry expenditures in Oman.
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of an external audit of defence ministry expenditures in Oman.
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of an external audit of defence ministry expenditures in Oman.
Explore
Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
25/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
View Question
Anti-corruption legislation lays out the consequences of bribery of government officials with up to ten years imprisonment (1). However according to GAN, a business…
Explore
No information is available setting out the links between the ministry of defence and natural resource extraction on the Ministry of Defence website (1).…
Explore
There are very few cases where individual defense personnel with very high-rank positions are involved in businesses relating to the country’s natural resource exploitation.…
Explore
As discussed in sub-indicator 18B, the MoD routinely refuses to comment on shares and investments in the petroleum sector (1). Although the Oman News…
Explore
As laid out in sub-indicators 13, 16 and 17, there is no internal or external auditing around defence expenditure or investment. The State Audit…
Explore
Organised Crime
Q19
75/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
View Question
According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-18, published by the World Forum, Oman is ranked 3rd in the world for a lack of organized…
Explore
Oman has numerous pieces of legislation against organized crime including the Cyber Law Crime (12/2011); Arab Convention Against Organized Transnational Crime (6/2015); Royal Decree…
Explore
Q20
0/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
View Question
Military justice in Oman falls under the senior officers of the armed forces who oversee military courts, whose jurisdiction includes defence and security sectors…
Explore
Due to the absence of police functions, this sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as no policing functions are assessing their independence is…
Explore
In the absence of policing functions, this sub-indicator is marked as Not Applicable. As highlighted in sub-indicator 20A, there is no policing unit tasked…
Explore
Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
View Question
The Internal Security Service (ISS), formerly known as the Oman Intelligence Service and Oman Research Department, and the Sultan’s Security Forces, which work under…
Explore
This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because oversight of the intelligence services is absent. According to senior officers, oversight over the Internal Security…
Explore
Q22
0/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
View Question
The most recent appointments of senior staff for the intelligence services were declared in Royal Decree 34/2013. It was published in the Muscat Daily:…
Explore
As previously established, the last appointment of senior staff for the Omani Intelligence services was declared through a royal decree (1). The centralised power…
Explore
There is no transparency around the selection process concerning the appointees of senior intelligence positions, as demonstrated in the above two sub-indicators. In the…
Explore
Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
View Question
Oman has not signed or ratified the Arms Trade Treaty according to the website of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (1). In…
Explore
Oman has not signed or ratified the Arms Trade Treaty according to the website of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (1), thus…
Explore
The al-Shura Council does not discuss issues relating to defence or security (1). No information on the al-Shura website relates to either security or…
Explore
Lobbying in Defence
There is no legal framework for lobbying and lobbying groups activities. Oman is a major market for weapons due to its high expenditure on…
Explore
This sub-indicator is marked Not Applicable because as described in sub-indicator 76A, there is no legal framework regulating lobbying in the defence sector.
Explore
This sub-indicator is marked Not Applicable because as described in sub-indicator 76A, there is no legal framework regulating lobbying in the defence sector.
Explore
This sub-indicator is marked Not Applicable because as described in sub-indicator 76A, there is no legal framework regulating lobbying in the defence sector.
Explore