PTI urges end to IK’s ‘solitary confinement’, restoration of basic rights

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has expressed grave concern over the highly disturbing and eye-opening report issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, which exposed the unlawful incarceration, inhuman and degrading treatment of former prime minister Imran Khan at Adiala Jail — constituting a blatant violation of international law and fundamental human rights.

In a statement issued by PTI’s Central Media Department, the party said the UN report unequivocally confirmed what it has consistently maintained for months that that former Prime Minister Imran Khan is being subjected to inhuman, unlawful, and degrading treatment motivated entirely by political vendetta.

PTI asserted that the shocking report reaffirmed of PTI founding chairman’s 23 hours of solitary confinement, constant CCTV surveillance, isolation from the outside world, obstruction of meetings with legal counsel and family, denial of religious practice, and deprivation of basic human necessities, which constituted a blatant violation of prison rules and a flagrant breach of international human rights law.

According to the United Nations, the statement reads that solitary confinement exceeding 15 days amounts to psychological torture. Imran Khan, PTI stated that however, has been forced to endure this torment for months. The party asserted that subjecting a 72-year-old detainee, suffering from serious medical conditions, a spinal injury, and wounds from a prior assassination attempt, to such conditions while denying adequate medical care amounts to deliberate and calculated cruelty.

PTI demands the immediate cessation of solitary confinement, the provision of detention conditions consistent with human dignity and international standards, unrestricted access to personal physicians, and the removal of all unlawful barriers to meetings in strict compliance with judicial orders.

The party stated that this matter has now transcended the persecution of a single political prisoner, as it has become a litmus test for the credibility of law, justice, and human rights in Pakistan. PTI vowed that if this inhumane treatment continues with Imran Khan, it will stand as one of the most egregious examples of state.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025