A United Nations’ (UN) special rapporteur warned on Friday that PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to inhuman or degrading treatment, calling on Pakistani authorities to comply with international norms and standards.
In September, his legal team approached the rapporteur to urge the Pakistani government to cease the alleged mistreatment of the couple.
The UN official, Alice Jill Edwards, urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said. “His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Imran’s supporters allege that he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family, prompting multiple protests and sit-ins outside or near the prison.
Prime Minister’s Aide Rana Ihsan Afzal, however, dismissed the concerns of the UN rapporteur and said Imran was being kept “according to prison rules and the jail manual”.
