Web Desk; The legal team representing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi has formally approached Dr. Alice J. Edwards, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The move seeks urgent UN intervention to press the Pakistani government to end the alleged mistreatment of the couple in custody.
Imran Khan, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence in the £190 million corruption case while also facing pending terrorism-related trials stemming from the May 9, 2023 protests. PTI has consistently voiced concern about his health and that of the former first lady, who remains incarcerated as well.
The party recently filed a petition in the Supreme Court, claiming that Bushra Bibi’s medical needs are being deliberately ignored by prison authorities despite court orders.
Last month, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur also sought regular medical checkups for the 72-year-old PTI founder at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, noting his visible weight loss in custody.
In a statement on X, PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari revealed that urgent appeals had been lodged with the UN by Imran’s sons, Sulaiman and Kasim, and by Bushra Bibi’s sister.
A press release by international law firm Perseus Strategies confirmed the filings, stating they request the Special Rapporteur to investigate the couple’s detention and press Pakistan to halt their alleged torture and ill-treatment.
The law firm highlighted that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had earlier declared Imran’s detention unlawful, politically motivated, and in violation of international law, urging his immediate release. The new appeals document a pattern of abuses: prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, physical mistreatment, contaminated food, and restricted access to family and legal counsel—acts that, under international conventions, amount to torture.
According to the filing, Imran is held in a small isolation cell at Adiala Jail with no natural light, an open toilet under constant surveillance, and limited contact with others, sometimes locked up for over 22 hours a day. Reports further allege that he suffers from severe sleep deprivation, extreme heat during power cuts, and inadequate food and water.
Bushra Bibi, sentenced in 2024, is similarly reported to have endured food laced with harmful chemicals, unsanitary living conditions, denial of medical care, and long isolation periods. The filing argues her imprisonment is part of a larger effort to exert psychological pressure on Imran Khan.
Jared Genser, the couple’s international counsel, condemned the situation as “intolerable under international law,” calling for urgent action by the UN and global leaders. Another counsel, Jacob Bogart, stressed that the ongoing arbitrary detention violates Pakistan’s obligations under the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The firm further warned that the persecution of Imran and Bushra risks deepening Pakistan’s political divisions at a time of national crisis, adding that their release is vital not only to correct grave injustices but also for Pakistan’s democratic future.
Separately, Imran’s son Kasim stated that his father was imprisoned for “standing up for democracy” and remains cut off from doctors, lawyers, and family visits. He described the arrests of PTI members and supporters as “political revenge,” urging the international community to act before Pakistan’s democratic space collapses further.
