Petition: Appeal for Action to Impose Targeted Sanctions (visa, travel bans etc.) on Pakistani Officials Under the Global Magnitsky Act for Human Rights Violations

To: Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State; Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights; Erin M. Barclay, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; United Nation; and International human rights organizations

We are writing to express our grave concern about the widespread and systematic human rights violations in Pakistan. We are particularly alarmed by the abduction, torture, and murder of social media activists and journalists who speak out against the government. The Pakistani government's direct involvement in these abuses, and its failure to protect individuals who exercise their fundamental rights, are deeply troubling.

The government of Pakistan has been implicated in gross human rights violations, including the suppression of peaceful demonstrations, enforced disappearances of political workers including abduction of PTI leader Imran Khan, and barbaric attacks on innocent protestors, including women and children. Law enforcement agencies in Pakistan frequently engage in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture, with those responsible often enjoying impunity.

Therefore, we urge you to help impose targeted sanctions under the Magnitsky Act against the following Pakistani officials for their involvement in gross human rights violations in Pakistan:

    •  Rana Sanaullah, Minister of State for Interior of Pakistan 
    •  Mohsin Raza Naqvi, Chief Minister of Punjab
    •  Usman Anwar, Inspector General of the Punjab Police (IGP)
    •  Akbar Nasir Khan, Inspector General of Islamabad Police (IGP)

The Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf party has compiled a dossier that implicates these officials in the kidnapping, torture, and extrajudicial killings of social media activists and journalists. The dossier, available at https://www.insaf.pk/news/dossier-violations-human-rights-pdm-govt provides evidence of the government's involvement in these heinous acts.

Despite the evidence provided, the Pakistani authorities have done little to address these issues, and the perpetrators of these crimes have gone unpunished. As a leader of the free world, the United States has a responsibility to defend and protect the fundamental rights of individuals around the globe. The Magnitsky Act provides a powerful tool such as visas ban on individuals responsible for such heinous acts.

Imposing targeted sanctions will effectively limit these officials' ability to travel or do business with the United States. By taking this action, the United States government will send a strong message to the Pakistani government that such human rights violations will not be tolerated. Moreover, this will set an important precedent for other authoritarian regimes around the world.

We firmly believe that targeted sanctions against these officials are necessary to send a clear message to the Pakistani government that human rights violations will not be tolerated. Such sanctions will also serve as a warning to other countries that the United States is committed to upholding human rights and will take action against those who violate them.

The international community cannot sit idly by while innocent civilians are subjected to such atrocities. We urge you to use your position and authority to hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we urge you to take swift action. The world is watching, and we hope the United States will continue to be a beacon of hope for the oppressed and voiceless.

Sincerely, 

First Pakistan Global