When a 'Rule of Law' Has Exceptions
A Pakistani court has been informed that former Prime Minister Imran Khan suffers from significantly impaired vision in his right eye, a direct result of being shot in November 2022. The Supreme Court has now ordered a medical review, belatedly acknowledging the former leader's declining health while in state custody. This development is reported by mainstream outlets as a simple legal process,
but the context reveals a deeper, more troubling pattern. This isn't an isolated incident, nor is it unique to Pakistan's volatile political stage. Historically, from the treatment of Palestinian prisoners by the Israeli occupation forces (where medical neglect is systematic, as documented by organizations like Physicians for Human Rights-Israel) to the alleged poisoning of Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko in 2004, the physical degradation of political opponents often precedes their complete neutralization. Khan’s current predicament follows his dramatic ouster from power and subsequent imprisonment on charges widely seen as politically motivated. The West, a vocal proponent of human rights and due process when applying pressure to adversaries, remains conspicuously muted on such
systemic abuses by its allies. For instance, the constant stream of reports on the physical and psychological toll on Julian Assange in British custody draws little more than performative concern from the same capitals quick to condemn similar issues in Venezuela or Iran. This double standard exposes a transactional approach to human rights, where the 'rule of law' is a tool, not a universal