Pakistan dismisses UN criticism of constitutional changes as concern for Imran Khan grows

1. Asia
2. South Asia

Move to grant powerful army chief legal immunity for life comes while former PM and fierce critic Imran Khan is being denied family and legal visits

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Pakistan has rejected criticism from the UN human rights chief, who said a recent move to grant legal immunity to top military leaders could severely weaken the rule of law.

Pakistan’s parliament approved a controversial constitutional amendment earlier this month guaranteeing lifelong immunity from prosecution to Field Marshal Asim Munir, the army chief widely regarded as the most powerful figure in the country, and several senior officials.

The amendment also established a new Federal Constitutional Court, diminishing the supreme court’s authority and tightening the government’s control over the judiciary.

Mr Turk had warned that “these changes, taken together, risk subjugating the judiciary to political interference and executive control”. “Sweeping immunity provisions like these undermine accountability,” he explained, “which is a cornerstone of the human rights framework and democratic control of the armed forces under the rule of law.”

He cautioned the reforms could have “far-reaching consequences for the principles of democracy and rule of law which the Pakistani people hold dear”.

In a statement on 30 November, the foreign ministry said that Islamabad remained “fully committed” to protecting the freedoms and the rule of law as enshrined in its constitution while dismissing criticism from the UN rights chief Volker Turk.

It was “regrettable that Pakistan’s views and ground realities were not reflected” in Mr Turk’s remarks, the ministry said, calling his concerns “baseless”.

The sweeping legal changes coincided with mounting public anxiety, and a flurry of speculation online, about the condition of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

Mr Khan’s son issued a public plea on Thursday demanding proof that his father was alive and safe, claiming that all family contact had been blocked for weeks.

Kasim Khan said that his father, imprisoned since August 2023, had now spent “845 days in detention” and been confined to a “death cell” without phone access or visits.

“For the past six weeks, he has been kept alone in a death cell in an environment of complete isolation. His sisters have been barred from every meeting, despite clear court orders. No phone calls, no meetings, and no news of his well-being. My brother and I have not been able to contact our father in any way,” he wrote on X.

He said this treatment of Mr Khan had nothing to do with security protocols and that it amounted to concealing the state of his father’s health.

“This complete darkness is not part of any security protocol,” he said, insisting the government would bear “full legal, moral, and international responsibility” for any consequences of the confinement.

He urged foreign governments and rights organisations to pressure Islamabad to allow court-mandated visits, end what he called “inhumane isolation”, and release “Pakistan’s most popular political leader, who has been imprisoned solely for political reasons”.

The former leader’s sister said attempts to meet him at the Adiala Jail had become unpredictable and increasingly futile.

“For the last six to seven months, they have caused a lot of trouble. Sometimes they let me meet him, sometimes they let one of my sisters meet him, sometimes they don’t let anyone meet him. Many times, we wait outside for hours,” Aleema Khanum told NDTV.

Another sister, Noreen Niazi, told the Indian news agency ANI that no family member had been allowed access for four weeks.

“We don’t know anything. They are not telling us anything, nor are they letting anybody meet him,” she said, adding that even senior figures of Mr Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party with scheduled appointments had been turned away.

She described Mr Khan’s isolation as “the pinnacle of oppression”.

Senior members of Mr Khan’s opposition party shared similar concerns. Zulfi Bukhari said the rumours about the jailed leader’s health were gaining traction because of the prolonged blackout.

“We should just be allowed to meet him”, he told The Independent last week, arguing that a single visit would dispel speculation.

He also linked the timing of Mr Khan’s isolation to the constitutional changes. According to Mr Bukhari, authorities wanted to silence the former prime minister during a politically sensitive period. “They’ve just cut all access to the outside world at a very crucial time when crazy amendments are being passed in parliament,” he said.

Meanwhile, Adiala Jail authorities strongly rejected claims of mistreatment, insisting the 73-year-old former leader was in good physical condition.

The jail administration said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership had been informed about Mr Khan’s health. “All necessary care is being provided to the PTI chief,” they said, describing reports of his secret transfer out of the prison as “entirely baseless”.

Pakistan, a nation of 250 million people, has repeatedly grappled with the military’s overwhelming political influence.

The armed forces have ruled the country directly for nearly half of its existence as an independent state since 1947 and been the dominant institutional power even under civilian governments.

This backdrop has amplified concerns that granting lifetime immunity to the current army chief further entrenches military supremacy, especially at a moment when the country’s most prominent civilian political figure is held in near-total isolation.

Mr Khan, who was elected prime minister in 2018 and ousted four years later through a parliamentary no confidence vote that he later accused the military of orchestrating at the behest of the US, maintains that the dozens of criminal cases lodged against him are designed to prevent his political comeback.

He and his wife were sentenced in January to 14 and seven years in jail, respectively, on corruption charges they said were fabricated.

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