Washington, March 25 (IANS) A bipartisan duo of US lawmakers have introduced a legislation calling for sanctions on Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir and other Generals and officials for “prosecution of political opponents”, including the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The bill moved by Joe Willson, a Republican, and Jimmy Panetta, a Democrat and son of former CIA Director and Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta, is titled ‘Pakistan Democracy Act’ and envisions these sanctions within 180 days of the enactment of the legislation, under Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2017, which has been used by the US to sanction foreign officials.
The bill accuses Munir of “knowingly engaging in the wrongful persecution and imprisonment of political opponents”, according to a report by The Hill news site that said it had accessed the bill and was quoting from it. It also seeks to identify others purportedly involved in this “persecution” and target them for something similar.
“I am grateful to introduce the Pakistan Democracy Act to sanction those undermining democracy in Pakistan!,” Wilson wrote in a post on X, with a picture of Imran Khan.
The bill must be passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate and then signed by President Donald Trump to become law.
The Republican lawmaker had announced his intention to bring the bill in February and imposing similar bans on them. “Grateful to be nearly finished drafting the Pakistan Democracy Act. The bill sets down that it is US policy to restore democracy in Pakistan. Mandates a 30-day determination of sanctions on Asim Munir. Reviews all generals and gov officials & their families for sanctions,” he wrote.
Former Prime Minister Khan was forced out of office in 2022 after losing a no-confidence vote by the united opposition parties. He was succeeded by Shehbaz Sharif, the opposition leader and brother of former PM Nawaz Sharif. Sharif completed Khan’s unfinished tenure and then went on to win the next general election, starting a full term in 2024.
–IANS
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