In a serious improvement, dozens of US lawmakers have known as on President Joe Biden to advocate for the rapid launch of former prime minister Imran Khan and all different political prisoners within the nation and guarantee their security according to the findings of the UN Working Group report.
In a letter to outgoing President Biden, as many as 46 members of the Congress on Friday urged him to take steps to behave on the provisions of “H. Res. 901”, which was handed by the US Home of Representatives by an amazing margin.
Sharing the letter on its official X deal with, the PTI mentioned: “46 members of the US Home of Representatives, together with members from each the Republican and Democratic events, have written a letter to President Joe Biden calling for pressing motion for the discharge of Imran Khan.”
It additional mentioned that the letter, collectively led by Susan Wild and John James, criticises the function of the US Ambassador Donald Blome and his failure to “incorporate the issues of the Pakistani American group in its work together with meaningfully advocating for the discharge of political prisoners, the restoration of human rights, or respect for democratic rules.”
Of their letter to the president, the US lawmakers, whereas referring to the supply of H. Res. 901, mentioned that the laws introduced collectively Democrats and Republicans in help of a change in US coverage —specializing in escalating human rights violations and erosion of civil liberties in Pakistan within the aftermath of the “flawed” February 2024 elections.
“These elections had been characterised by widespread irregularities, electoral fraud, and state-led suppression of the nation’s main occasion, PTI — together with disenfranchising the occasion within the leadup to the vote, in addition to reversing precinct-level outcomes, which confirmed an amazing victory for PTI-associated unbiased candidates.”
Because the elections, the state of affairs has worsened — with “rampant curbs” on civil liberties, notably on freedom of expression, learn the letter.
The US lawmakers additionally expressed their disappointment over “use of mass arrests, arbitrary detention, and the implementation of a de facto firewall in opposition to social media platforms, with reviews of broader efforts to sluggish web entry speeds”.
“A focus of our concern is the illegal detention of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, broadly perceived to be Pakistan’s hottest political determine.”
Many activists related to the PTI, together with senior occasion leaders similar to Yasmin Rashid and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, have been in detention for over a yr, it added.
The lawmakers mentioned: “Given these alarming developments, we consider a change of method on the US Embassy in Islamabad is urgently wanted.”
The lawmakers additional mentioned that they had been unaware of any efforts by the US embassy to include the issues of the Pakistani American group in its work — together with meaningfully advocating for the discharge of political prisoners, the restoration of human rights, or respect for democratic rules.