House Bill Eyes Sanctioning Pakistani Officials for Repression
Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, announced Sept. 15 that he has introduced a bill to authorize the president to sanction current and former Pakistani officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for allegedly violating human rights and undermining democracy.
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The Pakistan Freedom and Accountability Act has eight co-sponsors, including Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., the ranking member of the South and Central Asia Subcommittee. It was referred to the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees.
A Pakistani journalist told a House human rights panel in June that Pakistan is a "military dictatorship" and that the U.S. should impose Magnitsky sanctions on Pakistani officials responsible for torture, extrajudicial killings, election rigging and censorship (see 2506250046). A House bill introduced in March would focus such sanctions on Pakistan’s army chief of staff (see 2503260032).