Fact check: Imran’s son Kasim did not demand the suspension of Pakistan’s GSP+ status at UNHRC
Multiple PML-N supporters and media outlets on social media platform X have been sharing two videos since March 25, showing Kasim Khan, son of PTI founder Imran Khan, allegedly demanding the suspension of Pakistan’s status for the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) trade scheme. However, he made no such demand.
The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.
Imran — imprisoned since 2023 for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in the £190 million corruption case.
Meanwhile, his party and family have alleged that he is being kept in solitary confinement — with a restriction on visitors being allowed to meet him in jail — and have repeatedly raised concerns over his medical treatment after it surfaced in January that he suffered an eye ailment. His sons have been campaigning for his release as well.
According to the European Union, GSP+ status is a special incentive awarded to developing countries to “pursue sustainable development and good governance” in exchange for cutting import duties to zero on two-thirds of the tariff lines of its exports. Governments with this status need to implement 27 international conventions on human rights, labour rights, good governance and the environment.
On March 25, digital media outlet Thursday Times shared a video twice showing Kasim speaking at a talk with the following caption: “Kasim Khan (son of Imran Khan), while sitting with Dr Naseem Baloch, a leader of the Baloch National Movement, has demanded that the European Union revoke Pakistan’s GSP+ status, citing alleged ‘human rights violations’ in Pakistan. However, as an example, he could only cite the imprisonment of his father, Imran Khan (former prime minister).”
The posts collectively gained 310,000 views.
Media outlet ARY News Urdu also amplified the claim, sharing a screenshot of the viral clip on X with the following caption: “Kasim Khan’s demand to the European Union to end Pakistan’s GSP+ status.” The post racked up 56,200 views.
The outlet also shared the same claim in a news article on its website with the following title: “Kasim Khan demands that the European Union terminate Pakistan’s GSP+ status”.
Podcaster Shehzad Ghias Shaikh shared the same video twice in a similar context with the following caption: “PTI’s politics that seeks to destroy Pakistan if Imran Khan is not prime minister doesn’t make them traitors, it makes them ‘useful idiots’ for the propaganda against Pakistan. Imran Khan’s son and PTI leaders at the United Nations are trying to get Pakistan’s GSP status revoked.”
The posts collectively gained 203,000 views.
He also shared the same video with a similar claim through the social accounts of his podcast, ‘The Pakistan Experience’, on Facebook and Instagram; collectively gaining 14,000 views.
Journalist Wajahat Kazmi shared the same video in a similar context, captioning it with: “It is deeply concerning to see Imran Khan’s son Kasim Khan aligning with BNM leader Naseem Baloch to lobby against Pakistan’s GSP+ status with the EU. Using personal grievances to target the national economy while sitting alongside known anti-state figures crosses a clear line.”
The post gained 34,000 views.
Meanwhile, Thursday Times also shared a different video of Kasim on X with the following caption: “Imran Khan’s son, Kasim Khan, attends a conference to revoke Pakistan’s GSP+ status with the European Union, calling into account ‘human rights violations’: specifically with regard to his father’s imprisonment.”
The post gained 960,000 views.
An impostor account of Imran Khan’s sister, Noreen Niazi, also shared the same video with a similar caption, gaining 170,000 views.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif reshared the same video with the following caption: “If sons are so concerned about their father, instead of lobbying for revocation of GSP+ status, they should demonstrate their love and commitment, travel to Pakistan to visit him.”
The reshare gained 97,000 views.
Both videos were widely shared by several PML-N supporters on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here and here; collectively accumulating 45,000 views.
A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in matters concerning the PTI, Imran, his sons and Pakistan’s GSP+ status.
The transcription of the first video is provided below:
“My father’s treatment is the military’s test to see what they can get away with. Pakistan made binding commitments under the GSP+ framework to uphold the international human rights conventions that are ratified, including the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture. My father’s arbitrary detention, his solitary confinement, the denial of medical care, the blocking of family visits, the trial of civilians in military courts, each of these violates those treaties, treaty obligations.”
No mention of any demand for the suspension of GSP+ status was seen in the viral video.
A reverse image search conducted to trace the full video yielded a YouTube video shared by Global Human Rights TV (GHRTV) World News on March 25, 2026.
The video was titled: “Side-event 61st session HRC Human Rights in Pakistan”.
The video shows a side event at the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva titled: “Pakistan’s GSP+ status: human rights conditionality, treaty obligations and accountability.”
The event itself was a discussion about Pakistan’s fulfilment of its obligations related to the GSP+ status and not a session that called for revoking the status as per its agenda or central theme.
From the 27-minute mark onward, Kasim’s speech shows no reference to any demand for suspending Pakistan’s GSP+ status with the European Union. Instead, his remarks focus on the detention and treatment of his father and broader human rights concerns in Pakistan.
In his remarks, he said, “I sit before you today, father, Imran Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan, has been in detention for over 960 days. He sits in a small cell designed for solitary confinement, infested with insects and under constant surveillance. He has been held in these conditions for more than two and a half years. Why? Because he dared to challenge the Pakistani military’s stranglehold on political life.
“My brother and I have not seen our father since November of 2022. We visited him in Pakistan after he survived an assassination attempt. The last time I spoke to him was a brief phone call cut off prematurely. We go months without any contact. When we recently tried to travel to Pakistan to visit him, the government deliberately refused to process our visas. Denying a prisoner’s children the right to see him is collective punishment,” he said.
“From the limited contact we had, I know my father is suffering. But he refuses to talk about his own conditions. He asks us about us, about our grandmother who passed away last year, about our lives. That is who he is. And so the details of what he endures comes not from him, but from independent observers and the United Nations itself. I want to be clear about something. My father’s case is not an isolated incident,” Kasim said.
“It is just the most visible example of a much wider pattern of repression in Pakistan since 2022. As Zulfi explained, thousands of political prisoners remain in detention. Civilians have been tried and convicted in military courts. Journalists have been silenced, abducted, or driven into exile. The February 2024 elections were rigged to prevent my father’s party from taking over and that was clear,” he added.
“Pakistan made binding commitments under the GSP+ framework to uphold the international human rights conventions are ratified, including the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture. My father’s arbitrary detention, solitary confinement, the denial of medical care, the blocking of family visits, the trial of civilians in military courts; each of these violates those treaty obligations.
“My brother and I are not political people. We never wanted to come before bodies like this one. But my father’s life demands that we take action. We cannot stand by as his health deteriorates and he is kept away from us. If the situation were reversed, we know he would not stop fighting until we were free. That is the very least we can do for him,” he concluded.
Similarly, a reverse image search conducted on the second video yielded the complete 61st session of the UNHRC shared by United Nations Web TV on its official website on March 25, 2026.
The video was titled: “46th Meeting – 61st Session of Human Rights Council”.
The transcript of the speech from the 18:06-minute mark is provided below:
“I’m deeply concerned by the alarming rise of intolerance and persecution in Pakistan. We are witnessing a systematic campaign to dehumanise and silence specific segments of the population. My father, Imran Khan, has been imprisoned for nearly 1,000 days. He’s the primary target of a regime that treats dissent not as political disagreement, but as a grave crime to be crushed. I’ve not seen my father in over three years.
“He’s held in a solitary confinement cell, a cell built for death row inmates. UN experts have warned that the inhumane conditions could amount to torture. This is not neglect. It’s a deliberate persecution designed to strip a human being of his dignity. The intolerance extends beyond him. Pakistan has expanded its blasphemy laws to impose life imprisonment, and they’ve branded citizens as terrorists, fostering a climate of hatred. We asked this council and the OHCHR to urge Pakistan to end this persecution immediately. They must comply with the UN working group’s opinion, and they must release my father and all political prisoners. Thank you.”
As can be seen, at no point in the speech does he mention or even allude to the suspension of Pakistan’s GSP+ status with the EU.
Instead, the entire address is centred on human rights issues and appeals directed at the UNHRC and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take notice of the situation.
A keyword search was also conducted to check whether Kasim made any such alleged remarks at any other instance during the event, but yielded no results. Leading national media outlets Dawn and The Express Tribune also mentioned no such demand in their coverage.
Furthermore, the video was also shared by Kasim on his X account, saying, “I want to be very clear, like my father, I fully support maintaining GSP+ as the people of Pakistan should never be punished for the actions of its leaders.”
It was further observed that PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari was also accused of demanding the suspension of the GSP+ status during the side-event on the UNHRC. However, a review of the complete session shows that he made no such remarks and, on the contrary, he can be heard saying “Pakistan must remain on the GSP+ status framework” at the 24:02-minute mark.
Therefore, the claim that a viral clip shows Kasim Khan demanding the suspension of Pakistan’s GSP+ status with the European Union at a UNHRC summit is false. He made no such demand and stated that he supports the continuation of the status.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
