On August 23, 2025, @Jemima_Khan , ex-wife of Pakistan’s former PM @ImranKhanPTI , took to X to denounce the abduction of Khan’s nephews, @Shahrez_KhanPK and @KhanShershah , from their homes in front of their young children. Their cousin, Hassan Niazi, has languished in military prison for over a year, sentenced to ten years by a kangaroo court. Even Jemima’s sons, British citizens Suleiman and @Kasim_Khan_1999 , have been threatened with arrest should they attempt to visit their father in jail.

This is not justice — it is collective punishment. Pakistan’s military establishment, under Field Marshal Asim Munir, has adopted tactics more commonly associated with North Korea or Myanmar: abducting relatives, torturing opponents, and trampling basic rights to break political dissidents. These are systematic abuses that meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Although Pakistan is not a party to the Rome Statute, the @UN (UNSC) has previously referred non-signatory states to the ICC: Sudan in 2005, Libya in 2011. Precedents exist—and the stakes, in a nuclear-armed Pakistan where repression and instability ripple across South Asia, are too dire for inaction.

Munir as Modern Pharaoh

Munir, self promoted to Field Marshal in May 2025, has escalated state repression to unprecedented levels, behaving like a modern-day pharaoh who treats Pakistan as personal property. In parallel with jailing the nation’s most popular leader, Imran Khan, Munir has overseen:

• Over 13,000 arrests of political workers since 2023.
• 103 convictions in military courts, condemned by the International Commission of Jurists as a “disaster for human rights.”
• Systematic torture of detainees—hooded, beaten, including Transnational Repression of U.S. citizens exposed by a social media outcry.
• Family persecution and enforced disappearances: children and women dragged from homes, nephews abducted, servants stripped and burned with irons.

This is collective punishment masquerading as governance. Even world champion cricketer, Oxford-educated Khan’s bail in eight fabricated cases this week failed to restore justice; he remains imprisoned on fresh charges as Pakistan’s judiciary bends under military will.

International Parallels & Precedents

Munir’s Pakistan mirrors the playbooks of other regimes that have faced—or are facing—international justice:

• Myanmar: post-2021 coup abductions of opposition families.
• Sudan (Darfur): torture camps leading to UNSC referral to the ICC.
• Libya under Gaddafi: family reprisals and disappearances prosecuted after a UNSC referral.
• North Korea: “guilt by association,” punishing children for parents’ dissent.
• Pakistan today belongs in this shameful hall of infamy.

Global Security Threat

This is no longer an internal matter. Munir himself has issued nuclear threats while escalating tensions with India. Coupled with state terror at home, Pakistan is on a collision course with both domestic collapse and international instability.

Momentum for Accountability

The international pressure steadily mounts :

• In the U.S., House Resolution 901 (2024) condemned Pakistan’s democratic suppression.
• The Pakistan Democracy Act (2025) authorizes sanctions on figures like Munir for persecution of political opponents.
• Over 60 lawmakers have written to President Trump demanding the end of arbitrary detentions.
• Diaspora communities are amplifying the call, heckling Munir abroad as a “dictator” & a “mass murderer.”

Why the ICC Must Act

Munir’s crimes fit the ICC’s mandate: widespread, systematic violence against civilians for political persecution. A UNSC referral is both possible and urgent. If Sudan and Libya merited referral, then so too does nuclear-armed Pakistan under a rogue general who wages war on his own population.

Conclusion

Unlike the pharaohs of old, Munir cannot rule in darkness. His repression unfolds in the bright light of social media, where every abduction, every humiliation, every act of torture is archived and broadcast. The choice for the international community is stark: either hold Pakistan’s modern pharaoh accountable at The Hague, or watch a nuclear state sink under the weight of tyranny, risking chaos not just for Pakistan but for the entire world.

The victims demand justice. Munir must face trial at the International Criminal Court.