Pak: Former PM Imran Khan's legal team appeals to UN on human rights violations in detention

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 14 : The international legal team representing former Pakistan PM Imran Khan has filed an appeal with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, after citing severe human rights violations taking place during his ongoing detention, Geo TV reported.

According to Geo TV, the filing was submitted by Perseus Strategies on the behalf of Khan's legal representatives, which outlined what they describe as a "systematic pattern of abuse, including prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, contaminated food, and restricted access to legal counsel and family visits."

Former PM Khan's legal team said that these conditions breach Pakistan's obligations under the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

According to Geo TV, in a statement which was included in the filing, Sulaiman Khan, Imran Khan's son, condemned the treatment of his father and said, "Our father is being kept in conditions that no human being should endure. These are violations of his rights, and they amount to torture."

Kasim Khan, another of Imran Khan's sons, said, "The UN has already recognised that our father's imprisonment is arbitrary and unlawful. What he is enduring now shows how far the regime will go to break him. But he will not be broken."

Zulfi Bukhari, adviser to Imran Khan on international affairs, undercored that the filing emphasizes Khan's resilience: "He is enduring unlawful imprisonment and degrading treatment, but he remains a symbol of courage and peaceful resistance."

Thus, Khan's legal team has urged the Special Rapporteur to examine the former PM's case and put pressure on Pakistani authorities to ensure his physical and mental well-being.

Imran Khan has been behind the bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases.

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