ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday visited the headquarters of Pakistan’s premier Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency to chair a special meeting of the newly established National Intelligence Coordination Committee, the PM Office said in a statement.
ISI Director General Faiz Hamid welcomed the prime minister and senior members of the federal cabinet at the agency’s head office in Islamabad.
The National Intelligence Coordination Committee is “a platform for intelligence coordination and cooperation for unified and wholesome national intelligence assessment,” said the official statement released by the PM Office.
It added that the body was notified earlier this year on January 22.
“A comprehensive briefing followed by discussion on enhanced intelligence cooperation was held,” the statement continued, saying that the prime minister expressed satisfaction over the performance of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, and heads of services’ intelligence agencies, Intelligence Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency attended the meeting.
PM Khan has been regularly visiting the ISI headquarters since assuming the country's top political office in 2018.
He also received a briefing on regional and national security issues during a visit to the ISI headquarter on May 24 along with other civil and military leaders of the country.
PM Khan chairs security meeting at headquarter of Pakistan’s premier spy agency
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PM Khan chairs security meeting at headquarter of Pakistan’s premier spy agency
- The meeting of the newly established National Intelligence Coordination Committee was arranged to ensure greater harmony among various intelligence agencies
- The event was also attended by senior members of the federal cabinet and other high-profile officials
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.
