{"id":57056,"date":"2025-12-25T22:47:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T22:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=57056"},"modified":"2025-12-25T22:47:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T22:47:18","slug":"the-wife-of-pakistans-former-prime-minister-imran-khan-is-being-held-in-conditions-that-could-pose-a-serious-risk-to-her-physical-and-mental-health-a-un-expert-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/the-wife-of-pakistans-former-prime-minister-imran-khan-is-being-held-in-conditions-that-could-pose-a-serious-risk-to-her-physical-and-mental-health-a-un-expert-warns\/","title":{"rendered":"The wife of Pakistan\u2019s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could pose a serious risk to her physical and mental health, a UN expert warns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-57057\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/UN-Reporter-Imran-Bushra-e1766702659898.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"349\" \/><strong>GENEVA: The wife of Pakistan\u2019s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could pose a serious risk to her physical and mental health, a UN expert warned Wednesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Alice Jill Edwards, the United Nations\u2019 special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, urged the Pakistani authorities to take immediate action to address the situation.<\/p>\n<p>Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were convicted of graft in January, and they were sentenced to 14 years and seven years in prison, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>And on Saturday, a Pakistani court sentenced them to 17 years for corruption involving gifts the jailed ex-premier received while in office.<\/p>\n<p>Both Khan and Bibi were handed a 10-year prison sentence on criminal breach of trust, and seven years on corruption charges in a case alleging the underpricing of state gifts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe state has an obligation to protect Mrs. Khan\u2019s health and ensure conditions of detention compatible with human dignity,\u201d Edwards said in a statement.<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"GnOhP2rG39\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/un-expert-raises-concerns-of-imran-khans-inhumane-conditions-of-confinement-in-pakistan\/\">UN expert raises concerns of Imran Khan\u2019s inhumane conditions of confinement in Pakistan<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;UN expert raises concerns of Imran Khan\u2019s inhumane conditions of confinement in Pakistan&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/un-expert-raises-concerns-of-imran-khans-inhumane-conditions-of-confinement-in-pakistan\/embed\/#?secret=zb1icLMBqU#?secret=GnOhP2rG39\" data-secret=\"GnOhP2rG39\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Bibi is reportedly confined to a small and dirty cell which is often dark due to power cuts, said Edwards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuch conditions fall far below minimum international standards,\u201d said Edwards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo detainee should be exposed to extreme heat, contaminated food or water, or conditions that aggravate existing medical conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reports also indicate that she is often in near-total isolation for more than 22 hours a day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe authorities must ensure Mrs. Khan has the possibility to communicate with her lawyers and receive visits from family members, and have meaningful human contact throughout her detention,\u201d Edwards said.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The special rapporteur has formally raised Bibi\u2019s situation with the government in Islamabad.<\/p>\n<p>UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not speak for the United Nations itself.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"WR8INSDvZ0\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/the-economists-table-story-on-imran-bushra-who-taskeen-is-herself-where-the-recycled-propaganda-campaign-initiated-from-by-tazeen-akhtar\/\">The Economist&#8217;s Table Story on Imran &#038; Bushra : Who Taskeen is Herself ? Where the &#8220;Recycled Propaganda&#8221; Campaign Initiated From ? by &#8211; Tazeen Akhtar<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;The Economist&#8217;s Table Story on Imran &#038; Bushra : Who Taskeen is Herself ? Where the &#8220;Recycled Propaganda&#8221; Campaign Initiated From ? by &#8211; Tazeen Akhtar&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/the-economists-table-story-on-imran-bushra-who-taskeen-is-herself-where-the-recycled-propaganda-campaign-initiated-from-by-tazeen-akhtar\/embed\/#?secret=BaXqV48mcg#?secret=WR8INSDvZ0\" data-secret=\"WR8INSDvZ0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Earlier this month, Edwards said Khan was being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>She urged the Pakistani authorities to ensure that the 73-year-old\u2019s conditions of detention fully complied with international norms.<\/p>\n<p>Khan, who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>He was ousted in 2022 by a no-confidence vote after losing favor with the military.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The former cricket star has been held in custody since August 2023, charged in dozens of cases that he claims are politically motivated.<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"adaAL6r3gb\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-dec-2025\/\">Pakistan in the World &#8211; Dec 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Pakistan in the World &#8211; Dec 2025&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-dec-2025\/embed\/#?secret=TGHs1V6Tuw#?secret=adaAL6r3gb\" data-secret=\"adaAL6r3gb\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GENEVA: The wife of Pakistan\u2019s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could pose a serious risk to her physical and mental health, a UN expert warned Wednesday. Alice Jill Edwards, the United Nations\u2019 special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, urged the Pakistani authorities [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[7839,7715,2661,7841,13,478,7840,405,3878,356],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57056"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57059,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57056\/revisions\/57059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}