The UN human rights working group declared on Monday that the detention of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan is arbitrary and violates international law, calling for his immediate release.
The Geneva-based UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recommended that “the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Khan immediately and provide him with an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.”
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The group asserted that Khan’s legal troubles are part of a broader campaign of repression against him and his PTI party. Leading up to the 2024 elections, PTI members were allegedly arrested, tortured, and their rallies disrupted. It also claimed “widespread fraud on election day, stealing dozens of parliamentary seats.”
The Pakistani embassy in Washington did not comment immediately, and Pakistan’s election commission denies any election rigging. Khan has been jailed since last August and was convicted in several cases ahead of the national election in February. He is also fighting numerous other cases, which he and his party claim are politically motivated to hinder his return to power.
Recently, Pakistani courts suspended Khan’s jail sentences in two cases involving the illegal acquisition and sale of state gifts and overturned his conviction on charges of leaking state secrets. However, he remains imprisoned due to another conviction related to his 2018 marriage and faces a trial under anti-terrorism charges linked to violence in May last year.
Khan came to power in 2018 but was ousted in 2022 through a vote of no-confidence, which he alleges was influenced by the US and the military establishment—both of which deny the accusations. Following his ousting, multiple legal cases were brought against him, disqualifying him from the February election. Despite this, candidates backed by Khan won the highest number of seats, but a coalition government was formed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
The US, Britain, and the European Union have expressed concern about reported election irregularities and urged for a probe, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern over the violence and the suspension of mobile communication services during the elections.
