WASHINGTON: Forty-four Democratic members of the US House of Representatives have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding immediate sanctions on senior Pakistani officials over what they described as an “escalating campaign of transnational repression and worsening human rights crisis in Pakistan”.

The effort is led by Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Congressman Greg Casar, and includes signatures from Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, two Muslim members of the House known for their advocacy on Palestinian and other Muslim issues.

In the letter, made public on Wednesday, the lawmakers called for targeted measures, including visa bans and asset freezes on officials responsible for threatening US citizens and residents who criticise Pakistan’s military establishment, as well as their family members in Pakistan.

There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan’s Foreign Office, or the embassy in Washington.

More than 40 lawmakers write to Marco Rubio, ask for sanctions against officials involved in ‘transnational repression’

The letter emphasises the need for Washington to act against those who “weaponise state power to jail political opponents, intimidate citizens abroad, and crush democratic freedoms”, said First Pakistan Global, a rights group sympathetic to the PTI, which distributed the letter.

“In recent years, US citizens and residents who have spoken out against authoritarian abuses in Pakistan have faced threats, intimidation, and harassment — often extending to their families in Pakistan. These tactics include arbitrary detentions, coercion, and retaliatory violence, targeting diaspora individuals and their relatives,” the letter stated.

The lawmakers warned that Pakistan was experiencing a deepening authoritarian crisis: opposition leaders have been detained without charge, journalists intimidated or forced into exile, and ordinary citizens arrested for social media activity. Women, religious minorities, and ethnic communities — particularly in Balochistan — face disproportionate repression, they claimed.

“This authoritarian system in Pakistan is sustained through relentless repression. Opposition leaders are held without charge, denied fair trial, and kept in indefinite pretrial detention. Independent journalists are harassed, abducted, or forced into exile. Ordinary citizens are arrested for social media posts, while women, religious minorities, and marginalised ethnic groups — particularly in Balochistan — face disproportionate violence and surveillance,” the letter read.

The lawmakers cited specific cases, including that of Virginia-based investigative journalist Ahmad Noorani, whose brothers were allegedly abducted and held for over a month after his reporting on military corruption.

They also raised concerns about the 2024 elections, noting irregularities documented by independent observation reports.

The US State Department had previously expressed concern over these irregularities and called for a full investigation.

The letter urged the US administration to impose measures such as Global Magnitsky sanctions, visa bans, and asset freezes against officials credibly perpetrating systematic and transnational repression.

It also called for the release of former prime minister Imran Khan and other political prisoners. “Such steps would reinforce US commitment to human rights, protect American citizens from transnational repression, and promote regional stability,” the lawmakers wrote.

To strengthen congressional oversight, the lawmakers submitted five detailed questions to the State Department regarding sanctions, conditions for targeted measures, and steps to protect US residents from threats directed at their families abroad. The lawmakers have requested a response from Secretary Rubio by Dec 17, 2025.

Earlier this year, more than 50 lawmakers submitted another resolution in the House, named the “Pakistan Freedom and Accountability Act”. It sought legal sanctions against those responsible for “undermining democracy in Pakistan”.

That resolution, HR 5271, is in queue for voting at the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2025