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Reacting to the reports where 12 workers of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the US Department of State said that the United States wants to see human rights respected in the country.
State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said that the US officials make it clear in their dealings with Pakistan that they want a "rule of law" there. "So I will tell you that we have been - always been quite clear- that we want to see human rights and the rule of law respected inside Pakistan. We make that clear publicly. We make that clear in our engagements with the Government of Pakistan," he said at the briefing on Tuesday (local time). Earlier on Monday (local time), Congressman John James also lambasted Pakistan and said that a government that murders its own citizens is not legitimate. In a post on X, he said, "Any government that murders its own innocent citizens is illegitimate, and the November killings by Pakistani forces is no exception. No regime should silence its people through violence. I stand with my Pakistani brothers and sisters in calling for justice and freedom." https://x.com/RepJames/status/1868780360206852200 James addressed a letter to US President Joe Biden where he brought to notice the human rights crisis in Pakistan. https://x.com/RepJames/status/1868780361712550158 The letter accused Pakistan's February 2024 elections to be flawed. "These elections were characterized by widespread irregularities, electoral fraud, and state-led suppression of the country's leading party, PTI including disenfranchising the party in the leadup to the vote, as well as reversing precinct-level results, which showed an overwhelming victory for PTI-associated independent candidates," the letter read. The letter also highlighted the issue of silencing dissent in Pakistan. "Since the elections, the situation has worsened with rampant curbs on civil liberties, particularly on freedom of expression. Pakistani authorities have employed an increasingly authoritarian approach to curbing dissent, including the use of mass arrests, arbitrary detention, and the implementation of a de facto firewall against social media platforms, with reports of broader efforts to slow internet access speeds," he said. James's letter also said that the incarceration of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was a cause of concern. "A focal point of our concern is the unlawful detention of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, widely perceived to be Pakistan's most popular political figure. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention along with Amnesty International and leading human rights organizations from around the world-have called for Khan's immediate release. Many activists associated with former Prime Minister Khan's PTI party, including senior party leaders such as Yasmin Rashid and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, have been in detention for over a year." The letter called for a change in the approach of US embassy in Islamabad. "We urgently call on the US government to advocate for the immediate release of former Prime Minister Khan and all political prisoners, and to ensure their safety in line with the findings of the UN Working Group report. Given these alarming developments, we believe a change of approach at the US Embassy in Islamabad is urgently needed," the letter added. (ANI)
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