Kasim urges UNHRC intervention to end Imran's persecution, detention immediately

PTI founder's son says denying prisoners' children the right to meet their father is collective punishment

Kasim Khan, son of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Wednesday, urging the body to intervene and press the government of Pakistan for the immediate release of his father.

“We ask this council and the OHCHR to urge Pakistan to end this persecution immediately. They must comply with the UN Working Group's opinion, and they must release my father,” Kasim said during the UNHRC’s 61st session.

Imran has been imprisoned since August 2023, currently serving a sentence at Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case. He also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) related to the protests of May 9, 2023.

The brothers have not seen their father since November 2022 after he survived an assassination attempt. They said they applied for visas in January of this year but have yet to receive a response.

Read More: Imran's sons don't need visas to visit Pakistan

In his address at UNHRC, Kasim described his father’s prolonged detention, revealing that Imran has been held in a small cell designed for solitary confinement under constant surveillance for more than two and a half years.

“We go months without any contact, and the last time I spoke to him was a brief phone call. When we recently tried to travel to Pakistan to visit him, the government deliberately refused to process our visas,” he said. “Denying a prisoner’s children the right to see him is collective punishment. From the limited contact we had, I know my father is suffering,” he stated.

He stressed that his father’s case was not isolated, but rather part of a much broader pattern of oppression in Pakistan since 2022. He also labelled the 2024 elections as "rigged," claiming they were designed to prevent his father's political project from taking over.

Referring to Pakistan's commitment under the GSP-plus framework to uphold international human rights conventions, Kasim pointed out several violations, including the arbitrary detention of his father, his solitary confinement, the denial of medical care, the blocking of family visits, and the trial of civilians in military courts. "Each of these violates those treaty obligations," he said.

He further stated that he and his brother were not political people. "But my father’s life demands that we take action. We cannot stand by as his health deteriorates and he is kept away from us. That is the very least we can do for him,” he added.

Also Read: Imran's sons raise concerns over his health in jail

Imran was allowed to telephone his sons from Rawalpindi's Adial Jail on Eid day. The jailed PTI founder spoke to his children for around 25 to 30 minutes. During the conversation, the sons inquired about their father's health, while Imran expressed happiness at being able to speak with them on the festive occasion.

The PTI founder was brought out of the compound to a special room for the call and, after the conversation, was taken back to the compound.

Last week, Jemima Goldsmith, the ex-wife of Imran, made a direct appeal to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to allow their sons, Kasim and Sulaiman, to visit their father in prison.

In response, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the sons of Imran do not require visas to visit Pakistan to meet their father, upon which Jemima replied that the government was refusing visas for their sons, in an attempt to deprive them of British protection in the case of a possible arrest upon arrival in Pakistan.