Pakistan: Youtuber And Tv Anchor Forcibly Disappeared
Imran Riaz Khan is a Pakistani YouTuber and TV anchor who was attempting to leave the country due to fears of victimization on 11 May 2023, when he was detained at the Sialkot International Airport. According to Imran’s lawyer, there were no pending cases against him at the time of his arrest, and his family were not informed of his arrest. Imran’s lawyer told Amnesty International that Imran was later taken to the Sialkot Cantt police station at around midnight on 11 May 2023. At 10am on 12 May 2023, a detention order was issued, which according to his lawyer, alleged Imran was inciting violence in the village of Dhana Wali, a village in Sialkot. Imran’s lawyers claim these allegations are false.
On 12 May, Imran’s family filed a petition before the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, where the Inspector General of Prisons and Inspector General of Police were ordered to release Imran Riaz Khan by 6pm that day. However, the Inspector General of Prisons informed the court that Imran had already been released. At a subsequent court date, on 22 May, the Inspector General of Police confirmed that he was not in police custody.
Media reports state that the court requested CCTV footage of Imran’s arrival and release from jail. According to Imran’s lawyer, the CCTV footage that was produced before the court had no time stamp, but the police verbally confirmed that Imran was released on 12 May at 11.20pm.
Imran’s lawyer alleges that Imran has been disappeared due to his criticism of the current government and the military. According to media reports, Imran was closely connected to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was ousted from power on 9 April 2022 after a vote of no confidence in Parliament. Media reports state that prior to April 2022, Imran Riaz Khan was a supporter of the military and at times justified enforced disappearances and attacks on freedom of expression.
Enforced disappearances have long been used as a tool by the Pakistani authorities to target critics, dissenting voices, minority groups, journalists and human rights defenders. Families are left searching for answers and justice with little to no information about the date and whereabouts of their loved ones. Enforced disappearances put victims outside the protection of the law and put them at risk or torture, other ill-treatment or even death. An enforced disappearance is a violation of the right to security and dignity, the right to life and the right to not be subjected to torture or other cruel or degrading treatment. It contravenes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Pakistan is a signatory and thus under an obligation to refrain, in good faith, from acts that would defeat its object and purpose.
The enforced disappearance of Imran Riaz Khan comes after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the subsequent violent protests against his arrest in May. Following the violent protests, the government has taken a number of steps in contravention of their obligations under international human rights law, including trying civilians in military courts, mass and arbitrary arrests, unlawful detentions and enforced disappearances. On 23 October 2022, Arshad Sharif, a journalist and supporter of Imran Khan was killed in Kenya, in what a Pakistani investigative committee referred to as a “planned assassination”. In the recent weeks, a journalist and lawyer were abducted and released after a day. Zubair Anjum, an executive producer for Geo News was abducted from his home in Karachi on 6 June 2023, and returned on 7 June. Similarly, human rights lawyer Jibran Nasir was abducted from near his residence on 1 June 2023. Jibran tweeted that he had returned home on 2 June, a day after his abduction.