<\/p>\n
The PTI on Saturday expressed grave concern over a report issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, saying it exposed the \u201cdegrading treatment\u201d of party founder and former prime minister Imran Khan during his incarceration at Adiala Jail and amounted to a \u201cblatant violation of international law and fundamental human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report<\/a>, released on Friday, claimed the PTI founder is being held in conditions that could \u201camount to inhuman or degrading treatment and called on authorities to comply with international norms and standards.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement issued by PTI\u2019s Central Media Department, the party said the UN report unequivocally confirmed what it has consistently maintained for a long time: that Imran Khan was being subjected to \u201cinhuman, unlawful, and degrading treatment motivated entirely by political vendetta.\u201d<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The PTI asserted that the report reaffirmed Imran\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to the United Nations, solitary confinement exceeding 15 days falls under the category of psychological torture, while Imran Khan has been subjected to this agonising process for months,\u201d the PTI added in its statement.<\/p>\n The party said that subjecting a 72-year-old suffering from serious medical conditions, a spinal injury and wounds from a prior assassination attempt to such conditions, while denying adequate medical care, amounted to deliberate and calculated cruelty.<\/p>\n PTI demanded 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 barriers to meetings in strict compliance with judicial orders.<\/p>\n \u201cThis matter is no longer just about a political prisoner but has become a test of the credibility of law, justice, and human rights in Pakistan. If the treatment being meted out to Imran Khan is not stopped, it will be considered the worst example of state-sponsored violence,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n However, Prime Minister\u2019s aide Rana Ihsan Afzal dismissed the rapporteur\u2019s findings and insisted that Imran is being treated \u201caccording to prison rules and the jail manual\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHis children have access, and he should schedule [a call] and put in the appropriate request. There is no issue or obstacle from the government of Pakistan,\u201d said the premier\u2019s aide.<\/p>\n He added that the PTI founder is being provided facilities \u201cgreater than his rights\u201d as a B-class prisoner.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has the facilities of exercise available, good food is available, and ample space is also available.\u201d<\/p>\n Imran, imprisoned <\/u><\/a>since August 2023, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a \u00a3190 million corruption case<\/u><\/a> and also faces pending trials<\/u><\/a> under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023.<\/p>\n The PTI has regularly raised concerns about his health and that of his wife. Imran\u2019s son, Kasim Khan, expressed fear<\/u><\/a> during a December 1 interview that authorities are concealing \u201csomething irreversible\u201d about his father\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n However, Uzma Khanum, Imran\u2019s sister, said on December 2 that her incarcerated brother was \u201cperfectly fine\u201d after she was allowed to meet him, putting to rest rumours surrounding the former premier\u2019s health.<\/p>\n