United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, has demanded the Pakistan government to immediately end the solitary confinement and inhumane detention conditions of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Posting on X, he warned that these conditions could amount to torture or inhuman treatment. This statement was issued on 12 December 2025.

Imran Khan in solitary confinement for 2 years

Imran Khan is lodged in Adiala Jail of Rawalpindi since 26 September 2023. He is being kept in solitary confinement for a long time. They remain locked in a small room for 23 hours every day. Contact with the outside world is very limited. The cell is under constant camera surveillance. There is a lack of natural light and air. The temperature becomes very bad in summer and winter. There is bad smell and insects due to lack of air. Due to this, Imran has complained of vomiting, nausea and weight loss. No permission to roam outside. There is no permission to meet other prisoners or participate in collective prayers. Meetings between lawyers and family are repeatedly interrupted or ended early.

What is the legal aspect of UN experts?

• Prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law.
• If solitary confinement lasts more than 15 days, it is considered psychological torture.
• The expert said, ‘Imran Khan’s solitary confinement should be ended immediately. This is illegal and can cause serious harm to physical and mental health.
• Every person in prison should receive humane and respectful treatment.
• Pakistan has been asked to completely follow international standards.

What will be the further action?

UN expert has raised the issue of Imran Khan with the Pakistan government. She will keep an eye on the situation and follow up further. Alice Jill Edwards is an independent expert appointed to the UN Human Rights Council. This statement increases international pressure on the detention of Imran Khan. However, the Pakistan government has not yet given any official reply.

Serving sentence in Pakistan’s Adiala jail since 2023

Imran Khan was convicted in several corruption cases mainly…

• The biggest punishment was given in January 2025 in the Al-Qadir Trust case, where he was accused of taking land as bribe from a real estate developer while he was the Prime Minister.
• Apart from this, there were also convictions on charges of illegal selling of government gifts in the Toshakhana case, leaking of state confidential documents in the Cipher case and illegal marriage in the Iddat case.
• Imran and his party PTI call all these matters a political conspiracy, the aim of which is to keep them away from power.
• He remains in jail because of these convictions until December 2025, although some of his old convictions have been suspended on appeal.

A heart-wrenching video has emerged from Khost province of Afghanistan, which has raised concerns across the world. Here, the Supreme Court sentenced a murder accused to death, after which Taliban rights got the convicted man named Mangal shot by a 13-year-old child. This incident was carried out publicly in a big sports stadium, which was attended by about 80 thousand people. The United Nations has condemned it, calling it an inhumane act.

13 year old boy shoots family’s murderer

The Taliban asked a 13-year-old boy to shoot the guilty person in front of everyone in the stadium. That child did the same. In fact, the guilty person had murdered 13 people of this child’s family, which included many children and women. After this, the Supreme Court of Afghanistan declared him guilty and Taliban’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada approved his hanging.

UN described this incident as cruel

Before the execution, Taliban officials asked the 13-year-old child if he wanted to forgive the accused, but the child refused. After this the officer gave the gun to the child and asked him to shoot at the person standing in front. According to Khost police, both the deceased and the killer were relatives. According to the report of news agency AFP, the UN described this incident as cruel and unusual punishment, which is contrary to international law.

This is the face of my country, Afghanistan in 2025.
Around 80,000 people gathered in #host province to watch the public execution of a man by the Taliban.
Islamic extremism is surging, and the Taliban have turned Afghanistan into a ticking time bomb. pic.twitter.com/wNflCVQxB1

— Ahmad Sharifzad (@AhmadSharifzad) December 3, 2025

The boy’s house was attacked earlier this year

The court said that an apology was offered by the victims’ families, but they refused. Local resident Mujeeb Rahmani justified this incident and said that now no one will dare to kill anyone in future. Public attendance at the event was encouraged in the official notice. According to the report, Mangal was among several individuals who attacked a house in January 2025, killing 13 people, including three women.

The Government of Pakistan recently increased the powers of Army Chief Asim Munir under the 27th Amendment, on which United Nations High Commissioner (Human Rights) Volker Turk raised questions. Volker Turk said that this constitutional amendment of Pakistan seriously weakens the independence of the judiciary, after which Pakistan was shocked. PAK Foreign Ministry has said that their Parliament has made these changes after debate, raising questions on it is beyond comprehension.

Frustrated Pakistan gave clarification

UN Human Rights Chief Volcker said in a statement issued in Geneva that Pakistan’s constitutional amendment, like last year’s 26th Amendment, was adopted without any consultation and debate with lawmakers and the larger civil society. He further said that the hastily adopted amendment has weakened the judiciary and raised concerns about the accountability of the military. Angered by his statement, Pakistan presented a clarification. Its Foreign Ministry said, “Pakistan objects to the apprehensions expressed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the 27th Amendment passed by the Parliament of Pakistan with a two-thirds majority.”

There is no ground reality in Volcker’s statement: Pakistan

The PAK Foreign Ministry said, “Like other parliamentary democracies in the world, making laws and changing the Constitution is the exclusive jurisdiction of the elected representatives of the people of Pakistan. Pakistan gives full importance to the work of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, but it is regrettable that the ground reality has not been reflected in the statement issued. The constitutional changes adopted in the Parliament of Pakistan have followed the correct methods prescribed in the Constitution.

Pakistan said that democracy and democratic methods are the foundation of civil and political rights and hence they should be respected.” The Shahbaz government claimed that it is dedicated to the principles of protecting human rights, human dignity, freedom and rule of law as per the Pakistani Constitution. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s office has appealed that his decision be respected.

27th constitutional amendment passed amid protests in Pakistan

Pakistan recently got the 27th Amendment passed in a hurry by the Parliament amidst huge protests. The biggest concerns included making major changes in the judiciary system by creating a Federal Constitutional Court and making changes in Article 243, in which the importance of the Army has increased and the Army Chief has got a place at the top of the Armed Services of Pakistan as the new Chief of Defense Forces.

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta has achieved the title of the world’s most populous city. According to the new report of the United Nations, World Urbanization Prospectus, 2025, released on November 18, Jakarta has now overtaken Japan’s capital Tokyo and reached the first place with a population of about 42 million, which is equal to the total population of a country like Canada.

According to the report, Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka is at second place in this list, whose population is about 3.7 crores. At the same time, Tokyo, which was in first place for a long time, has now slipped to third place and in this list, India’s national capital Delhi is at fourth place.

How Jakarta climbed from 33rd place to first place

The UN report is also shocking because in the 2018 UN report, Jakarta was ranked 33rd and its population was stated to be only 11 million, whereas Tokyo was considered to be the most populous city in the world at that time, with a population of around 37 million.

Actually, this big change has come after a big change in the new calculation method adopted by the United Nations. Earlier, the UN urban population figures were mainly based on government records and national statistics of the respective countries, but the problem with this was that each country used to decide the city boundaries as per its convenience. Some countries considered only the municipal area as a city, while some considered the entire metropolitan area. This created disparity in global comparison.

At the same time, to overcome this shortcoming in 2025, the United Nations implemented the same criteria for classifying cities, towns and rural areas for all countries. In the new approach, it was seen that the city actually extends to the areas where people work, live and everyday life is connected to the city, they were also included in the urban population.

UN Widespread impact of new method seen in Jakarta

This new approach had the greatest impact in the case of Jakarta. Jakarta is spread on the northwest coast of the island of Java and is surrounded by several densely populated areas, which are actually part of the city, but in Indonesia’s official census these areas were not considered part of the Jakarta metropolitan area for a long time. All these areas were also included in the calculations in a new way, due to which the population of Jakarta increased rapidly to the figure of 3 crores.

Also read: ‘India is the third largest domestic aviation market in the world’, PM Modi said at the inauguration of Safran MRO center in Hyderabad.

The United Nations has expressed regret over the death sentence awarded to former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. However, the UN says that this decision of the Bangladeshi court is an important moment for the victims.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres, said in the daily press conference here on Monday (November 17, 2025) that Antonio Guterres completely agrees with the stance of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk that we are against the use of death penalty under any circumstances.

Stephane Dujarric was asked about the reaction of the UN Secretary General on the death sentence given to Sheikh Hasina in his absence, in response to which he said this. Sheikh Hasina has been accused of firing drones and helicopters at students protesting democratically during the coup in Bangladesh last year.

After Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power in August 2024, interim PM Mohammad Yunus constituted a special tribunal to review the atrocities during her tenure. In a 453-page verdict on Monday, a three-member bench headed by Justice Ghulam Murtaza Mojumdar held Sheikh Hasina guilty of instigating, ordering murder and failure to prevent crimes.

Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in India since the fall of her government in Bangladesh on August 5 last year, has been sentenced to death in absentia by the tribunal. Sheikh Hasina’s aide and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has also been sentenced to death on similar charges.

Raveena Shamdasani, the UN human rights spokesperson in Geneva, said in a statement that the tribunal’s verdict against Sheikh Hasina and the former interior minister is an important moment for victims of grave violations committed during the repression of protests last year. He said, ‘We also regret the imposition of death penalty, which we oppose in all circumstances.

The United Nations (UN) described the verdict against former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity as an important moment for the victims, but expressed regret over the death penalty. At the same time, Sheikh Hasina, living in India, has called this decision politically motivated.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, said in a press conference on Monday (November 17) that Guterres completely agrees with the stance of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk that we are against the use of death penalty under any circumstances. Dujarric was responding to a question on the UN Secretary General’s reaction to Hasina being sentenced to death in absentia by a Bangladeshi court.

Bangladesh court has given death sentence
Bangladesh’s International Criminal Tribunal on Monday found Sheikh Hasina guilty of crimes against humanity committed during protests against her government in July last year. Sheikh Hasina, 78, who has been living in India since the fall of her government in Bangladesh on August 5 last year, has been sentenced to death by the tribunal in her absence. After Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death, Awami League workers protested heavily in the capital Dhaka.

What did the United Nations Human Rights Council say
Sheikh Hasina’s aide and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has also been sentenced to death on similar charges. Raveena Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, said in a statement that the tribunal’s verdict against Hasina and the former interior minister is an important moment for victims of grave violations committed during the repression of protests last year. He further said that we regret the imposition of death penalty, which we oppose in every way under all circumstances.

read this also

This Muslim country gave a big blow to India, ended free visa entry; Government issued advisory

India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Parvataneni Harish, has urged the UNSC to adopt a policy of zero tolerance against those who help in arms smuggling. His statement came after the car blast outside the Red Fort in Delhi.

On Monday (November 10, 2025), he said that India is suffering from cross-border terrorism, under which India is targeted using illegal weapons smuggled from the other side of the border.

India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Parvataneni Harish, said that the UN Security Council should adopt a policy of zero tolerance towards those who help in the use and supply of such weapons. Harish said in the ‘UN Security Council Small Arms Open Debate’ on Monday, ‘India has been fighting against terrorism for many decades. Because of this, it is fully aware of the dangers associated with the illegal supply of small arms and ammunition and their falling into the hands of terrorist groups.

Parvataneni Harish said this at the United Nations Headquarters, hours after the explosion in the Red Fort area of ​​New Delhi. 12 people lost their lives and 25 people were injured in this blast. The blast took place near Red Fort metro station on Monday evening. There was a sudden explosion in a car moving slowly at a traffic signal.

In an apparent reference to Pakistan, Parvataneni Harish said, ‘India has suffered due to cross-border terrorism, which involves the use of illegal weapons, including drones, smuggled from across our borders.’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a tour of Bhutan today, where he talked about the attack and said that its conspirators will not be spared. PM Modi said, ‘Today I have come here with a very heavy heart. The horrific incident that happened in Delhi yesterday evening has saddened everyone. PM Modi said, ‘I understand the grief of the affected families. The whole country stands with him. I am in touch with all the agencies investigating the incident. He said, ‘Our agencies will get to the bottom of this conspiracy. Its conspirators will not be spared. All those responsible will be brought to justice.

Pakistan has once again appealed to India in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to reinstate the Indus Water Treaty. Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, made baseless allegations against India and described himself as a victim. He alleged that the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty was a unilateral action and said that India was deliberately using it as a weapon.

‘Crisis on millions of Pakistanis’

Pakistani Ambassador Iftikhar Ahmed said, “India’s unilateral decision weakens the basic spirit of the Indus Water Treaty. It has endangered the lives of millions of people who depend on this water for food and energy security. This is not only causing harm to one country, but it is also weakening international water law.”

Iftikhar Ahmed described India’s move as a violation of the treaty that has governed equitable water sharing between the two countries for more than six decades. He said a 1960 treaty brokered by the World Bank allocates six rivers of the Indus Basin between India and Pakistan, giving Pakistan control over the western rivers and India over the eastern rivers.

Pakistan is appealing to the United Nations

After the Pahalgam terrorist attack, India had taken several actions against Pakistan including suspending the Indus Water Treaty. Now Pakistan has realized that it is going to suffer a lot due to this and that is why it starts pleading for reinstatement of this treaty from different forums. The Pakistani ambassador said, “No provision of the treaty allows unilateral suspension or amendment, therefore we expect full respect of the treaty and an early return to normal functioning.”

Also read: Indonesia: Terrible explosion in mosque during Friday prayers, 54 people badly injured; Fear of terrorist connection

Samia Suluhu Hassan has got a massive victory in the presidential elections of the African country Tanzania. However, amidst the election victory, severe violence was also witnessed. This presidential election quickly turned into a bloody game. According to foreign media reports, Tanzania’s main opposition party has claimed that massive demonstrations took place after this week’s disputed elections, in which hundreds of people were killed.

The United Nations says it has ‘credible reports’ that at least 10 people have been killed. Along with shutting down the internet, a large number of army has also been deployed here. Curfew has also been imposed in the area. The situation remains critical from Zanzibar to Dodoma. Amidst all this the United Nations has appealed not to use force.

What did the opposition party spokesperson say?

Amidst all this, John Kitoka, spokesperson of Tanzania’s opposition Chadema party, claimed, ‘At present the death toll in (Dar-es-Salaam) is about 350 and in Mwanza it is more than 200. If we add the figures from other places in the country, the total number of deaths is around 700.

Tanzania’s Foreign Minister Mahmud Thabit Kombo has rejected all these allegations. He directly said that the government does not have any data on these deaths nor has any excessive force been used. On Friday, Kombo denied reports that hundreds of opposition people had been killed, saying, ‘For now, no excessive force has been used. I have not seen these 700 people anywhere. So far there is no data on any protestor being killed.

Army along with police deployed to stop riots

After Wednesday’s elections, police as well as army were deployed to stop riots in big cities. Tanzania is generally considered a very peaceful country. However, after the elections, soldiers are seen patrolling the streets. There are also reports of sporadic firing.

In this general election, Samia Suluhu Hassan and her party Chama Cha Mapinduzi were accused of rigging and then the violence started from here. As soon as the election results came out, people started taking to the streets in many cities including Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Dodoma. Along with tearing of posters, there were attacks on police stations and clashes with the police were also seen. Within no time the atmosphere became violent.

read this also

‘All five parties in NDA are together like Pandavas, there is fight within the alliance only’, Amit Shah said in the rally

Switzerland Neutrality Policy: You may not believe this, but there is a country in the world whose army has not lost a single soldier in any war till date. Although countries around the world have faced devastating conflicts and countless military sacrifices, this country has not gone to war for more than two centuries. The name of this country is Switzerland.

What is the secret behind this?

Actually Switzerland follows the policy of permanent neutrality. This policy started after the Vienna Congress in 1815. After years of European turmoil during the Napoleonic Wars, the major powers agreed to recognize Switzerland as a neutral state. This meant that he would not participate in any international war in the future. This diplomatic decision became the basis of Switzerland’s foreign policy and has been strictly maintained ever since.

How neutrality protected Switzerland during World War I

When Europe was being devastated by the First and Second World Wars, Switzerland completely managed to stay away from direct conflict. Despite being surrounded by powerful countries on all sides, it protected itself through diplomacy and tight border security. Whereas the neighboring countries had to face destruction, occupation and millions of difficulties. But Switzerland remained firm and did not eat even a single soldier.

role of the swiss army

Despite not being involved in the war, Switzerland has a strong and well-trained army. Every able-bodied male citizen is required to undergo compulsory military training. Its objective is that the people of the country should always be ready for national defense when needed. In any environmental crisis, the army comes forward to help the citizens.

Center for Peace and Diplomacy

Because of its neutrality, Switzerland has become the global capital of peace diplomacy. It hosts the United Nations Office at Geneva and major international organizations such as the International Red Cross. This country always stands for peace talks in major global conflicts. After more than 200 years of adopting neutrality, Switzerland is the only country that has never lost any of its soldiers in war. The defense approach of this country is not based on aggression but on preparedness. The country’s terrain surrounded by mountains and strong goats provides it with natural security.

Also read: Growing friendship between Pakistan and Bangladesh, can both together compete with India?