ISLAMABAD: A special plane from China carrying an eight member medical team and relief assistance for Pakistan’s fight against the coronavirus touched down in Islamabad on Saturday, according to state-owned Radio Pakistan.
The novel coronavirus first broke out in China’s Hubei province late last year, and was declared a global pandemic by the WHO in January 2020. To date, it has claimed about 28,000 deaths around the world with surging rates of infection.
Through stringent containment measures, China was able to stem virus cases on its soil, and this week, the original epicenter of the deadly outbreak, Wuhan City, relaxed lockdown measures for the first time in months. Pakistan’s current cases of the infection stand at roughly 1,400 with 11 people dead and the numbers rising every day. Partial lockdowns have been imposed in some provinces.
China’s state assistance to its western neighbor so far includes 12,000 test kits, 300,000 face masks, 10,000 protective suits for health care workers on the disease front-lines, as well as funding support to build an isolation hospital, according to the foreign office.
The medical team from China are experts in dealing with the coronavirus and will remain in Pakistan for two weeks, the foreign office said. FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi personally received the Chinese medial experts at Islamabad airport.
“We are grateful, this is a unique relationship. And such times tell us how close we are to each other,” Qureshi said at the event.
Additionally, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Foundation and the Ali Baba foundation have donated 50,000 test kits and 500,000 face masks to Pakistan, the foreign office said.
Through the Khunjerab Pass earlier this week, China also provided over two tons of masks, test kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment. Pakistan has also been the recipient of considerable private donations from China.
Earlier this month, President Arif Alvi and a contingent of high level officials including FM Qureshi visited Beijing to express solidarity with China in its fight against the virus.
Chinese doctors, coronavirus relief supplies arrive in Pakistan
https://arab.news/cu3wr
Chinese doctors, coronavirus relief supplies arrive in Pakistan
- FM Qureshi received the medical team at Islamabad airport
- Chinese government and private donations for coronavirus relief includes test kits, PPE, face masks and funding support for an isolation hospital
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
