WASHINGTON. DC – 25 November 2024 – “I am prepared to use the full weight of my office to prohibit foreign aid to nations that participate in such injustices,” U.S. Congressman pens letter to outgoing President Biden urging the US to use “every diplomatic tool” to secure the release of religious prisoners and address ongoing human rights violations in Pakistan.
The letter sent urgently on November 21st brings particular attention to Shagufta Kiran, a mother of four, who Pakistan authorities have imprisoned in “inhumane conditions” and sentenced to death for comments deemed disrespectful to Islam.
“Only with significant pressure from the US and our international partners does Shagufta Kiran have the hope of being released and reunited with her family,” Congressman Clay Higgins writes.
“This is a tremendous amount of American treasure being delivered to an oppressive foreign government with no regard for individual liberties or religious freedom.” – Congressman Higgins in a letter penned urgently to President Biden on behalf of religious prisoners in Pakistan.
The congressman is a member of the House Armed Services Committee (and serves on the Seapower and Projection Force Subcommittee) which oversees defense policy and ongoing military operations and works on the National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) which serves as the National defense budget. The letter penned by the congressman notes that the United States Government has provided Pakistan over $1.2 billion in the last five years, “This is a tremendous amount of American treasure being delivered to an oppressive foreign government with no regard for individual liberties or religious freedom,” he writes.
According to ForeignAssistance.gov, a website run by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, $2.8 million in 2023 went to Pakistan’s military for, “Conflict, Peace, and Security.” Additionally for the Fiscal Year 2024 the President had requested $ 3.6 million in military support for Pakistan and $ 131.8 million for other activities. At a recent UNGA parallel event, Joseph Jansen urged states providing aid to Pakistan to make sure the aid is conditioned on “solid and concrete commitments that will protect vulnerable minorities.”
The congressman’s letter to President Biden was posted by @FrDaveNix publicly:
The Congressman concludes his letter by saying, “I am prepared to use the full weight of my office to prohibit foreign aid to nations that participate in such injustices.”
Pakistan has been placed on the State Department’s Country of Particular Concern (CPC) list since 2018, but it has consistently received a national interest waiver, which has shielded it from facing any significant pressure. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called on the U.S. to lift this waiver, most recently during a UNGA parallel event on ending extrajudicial killings related to anti-apostasy and anti-blasphemy laws. During the event, USCIRF Commissioner Elsanousi urged the U.S. to remove the waiver for Pakistan so that “compulsory sanctions can be imposed.”
Read the full letter here:
Letter-to-President-Biden-11-21-24Photo: Hulda Fahmi, Jubilee Campaign