More than 60 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a letter to President Joe Biden, demanding he lobby Pakistan for the release of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and other political prisoners.
Led by Congressman Greg Casar, lawmakers such as Jim McGovern, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez co-signed the letter that brought attention to the issues of arbitrary detentions in Pakistan and called for more emphasis to be provided on human rights in U.S. foreign policy towards Pakistan. They urged Biden to take immediate measures so that there could be guarantees about the safety of Khan and to get U.S. embassy officials to visit him in prison.
This move has been taken in the background of a severe crisis underway regarding politics in Pakistan wherein Imran Khan has been charged with several crimes including corruption; he also lost his right to contest the upcoming elections owing to those charges.
His detained supporters both home and abroad include high-profile ones, such as the famous musician Yusuf Islam, also known as Cat Stevens, have accused his arrest as politically motivated. Human rights groups also have drawn attention to this situation and the United Nations has also chimed in over the legitimacy of the detention of Imran Khan.
