KARACHI: Pakistan’s law ministry said on Tuesday former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s legal challenges were an “internal matter” after a UN human rights group declared the ex-premier’s detention arbitrary and in violation of international law.

The Geneva-based UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in an opinion issued on Monday that the “appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Khan immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.”

Khan, who is the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has been in jail since last August and was convicted in some cases ahead of a national election in February. He is also fighting dozens of other cases which are continuing. Khan and his party say the charges were politically motivated to thwart his return to power.

“The arrest of founder PTI and the pending cases as an internal matter of Pakistan,” law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said in a statement. “As a sovereign state in Pakistan, the constitution and prevailing laws are enforced by the courts.”

In recent months, Pakistani courts have suspended Khan’s jail sentences in two cases about the illegal acquisition and sale of state gifts, and also overturned his conviction on charges of leaking state secrets.

However, he has remained in prison due to a conviction in another case in which a trial court ruled that his 2018 marriage was unlawful. Khan also faces a trial under anti-terrorism charges in connection with violence in May last year.

“Founder PTI has all rights as per national constitution and law and international norms, he is in jail as a convicted prisoner,” Tarar’s statement said. “Relief to founder PTI in many cases is a reflection of a transparent and fair trial and judicial system. Any demand beyond the constitution, law and international norms will be called discriminatory, biased and unfair.”

Khan came to power in 2018 and was ousted in 2022 after what is widely believed to be a falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military. He alleged the US orchestrated his ouster in cahoots with the Pakistani military and his political rivals through a parliamentary no-confidence vote. All three deny the accusations.

Multiple legal cases were brought against Khan after he was ousted from the PM’s office and he was also disqualified as a candidate in February’s election.

Despite not running himself, candidates backed by Khan secured the highest number of seats, but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) formed a fragile coalition government.

The US, Britain and the European Union expressed concern about reported irregularities in the elections and urged a probe while United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern about violence and the suspension of mobile communications services during the elections.

With inputs from Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, has urged the UN to reevaluate the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine in light of ongoing foreign occupations and human rights violations in Palestine and Indian-administered Kashmir, state-run media reported on Tuesday.

The R2P is an international norm that seeks to ensure that the international community never again fails to halt the mass atrocity crimes of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. The concept emerged in response to the failure of the international community to adequately respond to mass atrocities committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. The International Committee on Intervention and State Sovereignty developed the concept of R2P during 2001.

“The ongoing genocide in Gaza and the worst human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir are clear examples of the failure of the R2P concept and the prevention of genocide and war crimes against humanity,” Radio Pakistan quoted Ambassador Akram as saying in an address to the 97th plenary meeting of General Assembly in New York.

“Given the scale of killings, devastation and the humanitarian crisis, there is no more apt situation calling for urgent intervention to stop the genocide than in Gaza, where the international community has failed so far.”

He also called on the UN’s Special Adviser on the R2P to take cognizance of Pakistan’s call and pay special attention to the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir and India. 

Nuclear-armed rivals and neighbors India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over control of the disputed Kashmir region in the Himalayas. Both rule parts of Kashmir but claim it in full. Pakistan accuses India of trying to marginalize Muslims in Kashmir with its policies, which New Delhi denies.

India is around 80 percent Hindu and about 14 percent Muslim and is the world’s third-largest Muslim country. Muslims accuse Modi’s right-wing nationalist party of pursuing a Hindu agenda that discriminates against them and directly imposes laws interfering with their faith. Modi denies this but the situation has led to sporadic violence between members of the two communities.

Meanwhile, Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s ongoing ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed more than 37,000 people, mostly civilians, and driven much of the enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes. 

Pakistan does not recognize Israel and is a longtime supporter of Palestinian statehood, championing the cause of Palestine on global platforms for decades.