Monitoring Desk: Just less than a month before the US Presidential Election, 62 Democratic lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives wrote a letter to President Biden demanding the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Foreign Office of Pakistan is yet to comment on this letter.
Interestingly, the majority of US lawmakers who signed this letter are known for their overt support for Israel in its genocide of Palestinians.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that a delegation of US lawmakers will visit Pakistan to meet former prime minister Imran Khan in jail in November.
Calling the arrest of Imran Khan ‘political’, US lawmakers urge President Biden to use the United States’ substantial leverage with Pakistan’s government to secure the release of political prisoners including former Prime Minister Khan.
U.S. Representatives Greg Casar (D-Texas), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), and Summer Lee (D-Penn.), along with 59 other Members of Congress, claimed Imran Khan is a political prisoner.
This is the first letter from U.S. Members of Congress calling for political prisoners in Pakistan, including Khan, to be released.
Names of Democrats who signed the letter include:
Greg Casar, Jim McGovern, Summer Lee, Don Beyer, Suzanne Bonamici, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, André Carson, Joaquin Castro, Judy Chu, Yvette Clarke, Steve Cohen, Joe Courtney, Madeleine Dean, Rosa DeLauro, Mark DeSaulnier, Lloyd Doggett, Veronica Escobar, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Robert Garcia, Dan Goldman, Vicente Gonzalez, Raúl Grijalva, Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Jahana Hayes, Jared Huffman, Jonathan Jackson, Pramila Jayapal, Hank Johnson, Ro Khanna, Dan Kildee, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Greg Landsman, John Larson, Barbara Lee, Ted Lieu, Stephen F. Lynch, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Frank Pallone, Mark Pocan, Ayanna Pressley, Mike Quigley, Delia C. Ramirez, Jaime Raskin, Andrea Salinas, Linda T. Sánchez, Jan Schakowsky, Brad Sherman, Melanie Stansbury, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Jill Tokuda, Paul Tonko, David Trone, Marc Veasey, Nydia Velázquez, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Maxine Waters (CA-43), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Susan Wild.
It is supported by First Pakistan Global, Democracy And Human Rights Alliance, Community Alliance for Peace and Justice – Pakistan Democracy Campaign, and The Coalition to Change U.S. Policy on Pakistan (CUSP).
