ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned Israel’s “deliberate” targeting of hospitals, patients and wounded people in Gaza, and called for its accountability over attacks on health infrastructure and other crimes.
The statement came a week after Israeli forces burned Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza and forcefully removed patients and medical staff from the facility, hospital officials said.
In its campaign since Oct. 2023 attacks by Hamas, Israel’s military has targeted hospitals, schools and residential neighborhoods in Gaza, killing more than 45,000 people and forcing hundreds of thousands to migrate, according to Palestinian officials.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar, Pakistan’s alternate permanent representative to the United Nations, called the destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last operational major facility in northern Gaza, an “atrocity that shocks the conscience of humanity.”
“The deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, patients and wounded defies every principle of [international] humanitarian law and has no justification whatsoever,” he told a UN Security Council session on the collapse of health services in besieged Gaza.
“Not just condemnation, there must be accountability for these crimes.”
Between Oct. 2023 and Jun. 2024, at least 136 strikes were carried out on 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, according to the Pakistani diplomat. More than 500 health care workers lost their lives due to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
He said 22 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals were rendered non-functional by June 2024 that had left the health care system on “the verge of collapse,” calling for a “decisive action” for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to halt bloodshed and destruction in Gaza and lifting of the enclave’s inhumane blockade to ensure the flow of food, medical supplies and humanitarian aid for those in “desperate need.”
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters.”
The South Asian country has dispatched several relief consignments for Gaza, besides establishing the ‘Prime Minister’s Relief Fund’ that aims to collect public donations for the war-affected people.
Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘deliberate’ targeting of Gaza hospitals, calls for accountability
https://arab.news/w7g5e
Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘deliberate’ targeting of Gaza hospitals, calls for accountability
- The statement comes a week after Israeli forces burned Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, forcefully removing patients and staff
- Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands to migrate since Oct. 2023
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.
