Jemima Goldsmith urges UK govt to intervene over Imran Khan’s rights

Jemima Goldsmith, Imran Khan's former wife, has called on the British government to intervene over the former prime minister’s treatment in Pakistan, urging it to uphold his fundamental rights in accordance with directives issued by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

On August 18, the SC ordered the government to transfer Imran to Shifa Inte­rn­ati­onal Hospital for examination and treatment by a multidisciplinary medical board. The government instead sent him to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for treatment, drawing backlash from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership and eventually leading to the filing of a contempt of court petition in the apex court on Saturday.

In a post on X on Monday, Jemima demanded that "Pakistan comply with its own Supreme Court; restore Imran Khan’s medical access, his right to see his family, end his prolonged isolation and uphold his fundamental human rights.”

She directly addressed Prime Minister Andy Burnham and ex-foreign secretary David Lammy, asking: “How much longer will Britain remain silent?” She alleged that Imran, who has been imprisoned for three years, had been subjected to prolonged isolation and denied regular contact with his family, as well as access to books, lawyers and doctors.

Jemima claimed that Imran had spent three years in solitary confinement and that his family had been denied contact with him for nearly 10 months. She cited the United Nations’ Nelson Mandela Rules, which set standards for the treatment of prisoners, and said human rights standards were “unequivocal” on prolonged solitary confinement. According to the rules, she said, solitary confinement exceeding 15 consecutive days was prohibited.

Jemima further said the Supreme Court had intervened by ordering comprehensive medical treatment for Imran, access to his personal doctor, regular family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons. “Yet those orders are being defied,” she said, describing the situation as “a human-rights emergency”.

She argued that the issue had gone beyond Pakistan’s domestic politics and called on Britain to speak out “publicly and unequivocally”.

Read: Jemima accuses govt of refusing sons' visas to deny UK protection in case of possible arrest

Jemima also highlighted Imran’s longstanding ties to Britain, noting that he studied at Oxford University, captained the university cricket team and spent several years playing county cricket. “His relationship with this country [Britain] stretches back more than half a century,” she said.

She also pointed to his charitable work, including the establishment of Pakistan’s first free cancer hospital and a university.

Jemima made a personal appeal on behalf of her sons, Sulaiman and Kasim, saying they were watching their father’s health deteriorate from thousands of miles away.

She said the two had been prevented from visiting Imran, denied visas and publicly threatened by government officials with arrest. She also claimed they had been denied court-mandated regular phone calls with their father.

“The previous Foreign Secretary David Lammy informed me in writing that Britain would not intervene if my sons, British citizens, are arrested when they travel to Pakistan to visit their father,” she said.

She concluded her appeal by invoking Britain’s longstanding human rights principles and its relationship with Pakistan as a Commonwealth country.

“Pakistan is a Commonwealth country. Britain has a long and proud tradition of standing against arbitrary detention, inhumane treatment and the denial of fundamental rights,” she wrote. “Those principles mean very little if we invoke them only selectively and neglect them when inconvenient.”

PML-N, PTI leaders at loggerheads over Imran's treatment fiasco

On August 22, PTI filed a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court (SC) over the alleged violation of the court’s Tuesday order concerning the transfer of founder Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital.

The petition was filed by Imran's sister Uzma Khan, lawyer Uzair Bhandari and PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja after Imran was taken to the PIMS for a medical examination in the early hours of Friday and returned to Adiala jail after doctors declared him "medically fit". The petition sought proceedings over the violation of the SC’s August 18 order, including issuance of show-cause notices to the respondents, contemnors and orders for their personal appearance.

According to the petition, four directions contained in the SC’s order had been allegedly violated. These included the failure to transfer Imran to Shifa International Hospital, to constitute a medical board, to have him examined by the board, and to include Dr Faisal Sultan on the medical board. It argued that the security situation was not a valid justification for not admitting Imran to Shifa International Hospital.

Also Read: SC orders Imran Khan’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital for treatment

The petition also cited a SC ruling in the Adnan A. Khawaja case, arguing that responsibility for non-compliance with a court order rests with the chief executive, namely the prime minister.

The same principle was applied in the Yousuf Raza Gilani case, according to the petition, which argued that it should also apply in the present case.

A day after the SC passed directions, the federal government filed a review petition before the SC, calling its August 18 order “discriminatory in nature”.

The petition, filed through Islamabad Chief Commissioner Syed Waqar Hussain, argued that the direction to shift the prisoner to a private hospital was “in excess of jurisdiction” and overlooked the procedure prescribed under the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978 for transferring prisoners to hospitals. It sought the recall of the aforesaid order in its entirety.

The government’s principal objection was that the transfer of a convicted prisoner to a hospital was specifically governed by the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978, particularly Rule 197, which sets out the procedure for moving prisoners outside prison for treatment. “The Order under review suffers from errors of law floating on the surface of the record, hence liable to be reviewed,” the petition stated. “It seems the above statutory provision escaped notice of the Honourable Court, thereby resulting in an error which is floating on the surface of the record,” it said.

Under Rule 197, the petition said, government orders were required through the inspector general before a convicted or under-trial prisoner could be admitted to a hospital outside prison for operative or other special treatment, except in emergencies where the prison superintendent could anticipate government sanction.

It further pointed out that where a prisoner was taken to hospital only as an outpatient or for an X-ray examination, the superintendent could authorise the visit himself. However, where a prisoner was to be moved to a hospital in another station, “the orders of the inspector general must be obtained in advance”, the petition said.

Last week, the SC ordered Imran be shifted to Shifa International Hospital for treatment for the next few days and directed the government to arrange weekly meetings between him and his family.

The hearing came after a medical board report and a report by the Adiala Jail Superintendent submitted to the SC last Monday recommended more frequent meetings between Imran and his immediate family and spouse to help manage his blood pressure and anxiety, highlighting concerns over the former premier's blood pressure (BP).

Imran's sons sought assistance from international media, organisations

At the beginning of August, Imran Khan's sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan, expressed concern over their father's poor health, telling CNN that authorities have prevented family members, lawyers and doctors from visiting the jailed former premier for months.

They said they have not seen their father since November 2022. The duo also claimed that they applied for visas in January this year but have yet to receive a response from the relevant authorities.

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.

Read more: Imran's sons voice fears over father's health

Speaking to CNN in London on the third anniversary of Khan's imprisonment, the brothers said they had received no recent updates about their father's condition because "his family, doctors [and] lawyers have not been allowed to see him for seven months."

"We're trying, we'd like to go, but nothing's coming through," Kasim said, claiming administrative issues had prevented the pair from travelling to Pakistan. He added there was "no reason" they should be prevented from entering the country.

The brothers alleged that each time they spoke publicly about their father's incarceration, it became increasingly difficult for them to secure the necessary documentation to visit him.

In response, the Ministry of Information rejected the allegations, telling CNN that both Kasim and Sulaiman possess National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP), allowing them to enter the country without visas.

The ministry described the brothers' claims as "misleading" and accused them of turning an administrative matter into "political point-scoring."

However, the brothers maintained that their identity cards had expired and had not been renewed, a claim that CNN said was "not addressed by the ministry".

Before that, on March 26, Kasim Khan addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), urging the body to intervene and press the government of Pakistan for his father's immediate release.

“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.

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.