Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 December 2025
30. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for an update on her Department's position in relation to the detention of a person (details supplied); the concerns raised in the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention report in June 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72749/25]
View answerI am aware of the arrest of former Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, in 2023 and his ongoing detention. While judicial matters are an issue for Pakistan's courts, I note that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in its report issued in June 2024, has found that Mr. Khan is arbitrarily detained and has called for his immediate release. I am also aware of the recent statements of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the national Human Rights Commission of Pakistan regarding the treatment of Mr Khan and calling for his conditions of detention to comply fully with international norms and standards.
Ireland’s commitment to the promotion and protection of universal human rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom to participate in the political process, is clear. Ireland, through our Embassy in Islamabad, is monitoring developments in the country and region closely and engages regularly with both the EU Delegation and like-minded partners in Pakistan on representations to the authorities regarding human rights issues.
This year, the EU has raised a range of human rights issues directly with the Pakistani authorities during a January visit by the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Olaf Skoog, in the EU-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue in November, and during the fifth GSP+ monitoring mission to Pakistan which took place in recent weeks. Ahead of the upcoming EU-Pakistan Joint Commission on 17 December in Brussels, a subgroup meeting on Democracy, Human Rights, Rule of Law was held in Islamabad, on 1 December, attended by the Irish Embassy.
