Oman establishes committee for international humanitarian law News
Oman establishes committee for international humanitarian law

Oman’s Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs [official website, in Arabic], Yousuf Bin Alawi, on Monday signed Ministerial Decision No. 330/2017 [press release, in Arabic] into law, establishing the Omani Committee for International Humanitarian Law.

The committee was established [Times of Oman report] to spearhead Oman’s initiatives in humanitarian and international law. The committee, which has an initial term of three years, will be headed by the minister of foreign affairs.

The committee is tasked with establishing “the definition of the principles of international humanitarian law and the dissemination of its culture within the Sultanate, proposing measures and studies to implement the rules of international humanitarian law at the national level.” The other functions of the committee include “making the necessary proposals to harmonize national legislation with the rules of international humanitarian law, and the provisions of international conventions to which the Sultanate has acceded.”

The committee is granted significant freedoms in addressing humanitarian law in Oman: “The Committee can seek the assistance of suitable consultants, experts and specialists to attend its sessions, with the aim of being guided by their opinions, without having a vote in the decisions or recommendations of the Committee.”