DND Report
Government circles in Islamabad have rejected the observations of one of the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, who claimed that former Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing “undignified detention conditions,” and she urged the Government of Pakistan to look into the situation.
Alice Jill Edwards, who is the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, is one of the independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council who work on a voluntary basis. They are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work, and they serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN and their views or opinions do not necessarily represent the UN or OHCHR official comments.
Official circles said that the insinuations made in Alice’s statement reflect an externalised political narrative rather than facts. They said that Pakistan is a sovereign state with an independent judiciary and robust oversight mechanisms, and no external actor has the mandate to pre-judge ongoing legal processes.
Talking to DND News Agency, one official of the Department of Prisons of Punjab said Imran Khan received proper medical access, and the PTI’s narrative of “denial of medical care” over the past 2–2.5 years contradicts documented facts. He stated that Khan’s access to the public was temporary and limited only for 1–1.5 months due to security and political activity concerns, not as a permanent policy, and that Imran Khan has been enjoying extraordinary prison privileges since he was sent to jail. He shared data with DND News Agency showing that Khan had held over 500 meetings with party leaders and 189 meetings with family since 2023, and this kind of freedom is unprecedented for any prisoner in Pakistan or abroad. The official further said that family members, including sisters of Imran Khan, recently visited him; however, he blamed his family members for using this access to the prisoner (Imran Khan) for releasing his political statements to the media and threatening state institutions.
It is pertinent to mention that Imran Khan has not been convicted for political speeches but for criminal charges proven through investigations, prosecutions, and court decisions.
Government circles claim that the last three years of PTI’s “protests” were not peaceful political gatherings but coordinated attacks on state institutions, but even then, Imran Khan has not been denied any fundamental rights; his legal team has met him 548 times since 2023, which exceeds normal legal standards.
An official in the Home Department of Punjab, when asked about health facilities for Imran Khan, said that Khan has received proper medical access whenever he demanded, and he has a team of doctors from his hospital–Shaukat Khanum Hospital. Official said that Khan’s narrative of “denial of medical care” over the past two years contradicts documented facts. He stated that detention arrangements for all prisoners strictly follow the jail manual (rules), which follows the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and regular judicial inspections certify full compliance, and Imran Khan is no exception. Claims of mistreatment rely on partisan sources and ignore the on-record acknowledgements of facilities, visitation rights, and medical examinations already being provided. When DND shared the claims of the UN expert, the official categorically said that “such statements, issued without verification, amount to interference in domestic judicial matters, and UN mandate holders should rely on objective evidence, not selective advocacy that undermines due process.”
When DND News Agency asked an official of the Foreign Ministry to comment, she, on the request of anonymity as she is not authorized to talk to the media, said that Pakistan remains committed to human dignity, legal safeguards, and transparent rule of law. Any concerns should be raised through formal diplomatic channels rather than press releases that compromise neutrality and fuel polarisation. She said that the comments/claims of Alice Jill Edwards carry zero legal force, create no obligations, and cannot override domestic courts, prison rules, or sovereign legal processes. She explained further that the Rapporteur is not an investigator, conducted no prison visit, ordered no inspection, and relied on secondary inputs, lawyer briefs, or third-party claims. The language used by Alice Jill Edwards in her content explained that she had unverified sourcing by repeatedly using phrases like “according to information received.” “Terms such as ‘torture’ are interpretive advocacy language, not judicial findings; no court or treaty body has made such a determination.”
When asked to comment, a retired diplomat who served as Ambassador of Pakistan in Europe and Geneva stated that “It is useless to comment on the wild comments of a person such as Alice Jill Edwards who has never visited Imran Khan or the jail and who has woven a story like a student who gets an internship for becoming a story writer. I think there was nothing newsworthy in this entire event, so please accept my apologies for not commenting on a non-issue.”
