Rights On The Line

Idris Khattak, a Pakistani human rights defender, was forcibly disappeared 5 years ago. He was, and remains, a single father of 2 daughters. For almost two years after his disappearance, they had no clue about his whereabouts, worried about his safety and whether he was alive.Authorities eventually revealed that he was being held in Military custody under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), a law aimed at protecting information held by government employees. He was tried and wrongfully convicted by a military court under the OSA and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in December 2021. An appeal against his conviction is pending before a military court and offers some hope for his release, but there has been little movement or response. The human rights defender has spent nearly five years of imprisonment in crowded and unsanitary conditions. We talk to his daughter, Talia, who has been campaigning tirelessly for his release and for the Court to respond. She tells us about what it was like to lose her only parent,