UN human rights experts issued an urgent appeal on April 2, 2026, demanding Pakistan immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Idris Khattak, who has been detained for over six years following his enforced disappearance in November 2019. Khattak, whose detention was ruled arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in November 2025, is suffering from serious and deteriorating health conditions including uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, and a dental infection, with an independent medical professional concluding that his life is at serious risk due to inadequate access to medication and medical care in detention. The experts emphasized that Pakistan has repeatedly ignored UN calls for his release and communications highlighting violations of his rights to fair trial, freedom of expression, and physical integrity, and warned that every additional day of his imprisonment compounds both the harm to Khattak personally and Pakistan’s violations of its international human rights obligations.

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