US Congressman concerned over HR situation in Sindh

WASHINGTON: A senior member of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Brad Sherman, has expressed grave concerns about the human rights situation in Karachi asking the State Department to take up the issue with Pakistan. In a statement issued to the media, Congressman Sherman listed out the association of allegedly disappeared persons. Many of the disappeared persons are from the nationalist parties. The disappeared persons also include teachers, intellectuals, writers, and publishers, he said, adding that he and six other representatives sent a letter to the State Department on this issue last August. He had also raised this issue on the floor of the House in October 2017, and discussed it in February this year during a hearing of the Asia Subcommittee at the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "I strongly condemn an incident that occurred this past weekend, when Pakistan’s security forces assaulted the families of disappeared and missing persons who were on a hunger strike in protest of these disappearances," he said in the statement. Taking note of the police action against protesters outside the Karachi Press Club, he further said, "It is crucial that Pakistan immediately cease these and other related human rights violations in the Sindh province. Pakistani security personnel and others involved in the enforced disappearances should be held accountable." He urged the State Department and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well as American ambassador in Pakistan, to take up this issue with the civilian and military leadership of Pakistan. "Our ambassador to Pakistan must receive guarantees from the Pakistani government regarding the protection of human rights defenders and of those who advocate for Sindh’s missing persons. It will be even more significant to set up a bipartisan fact-finding mission to probe enforced disappearances and related killings in Sindh," his statement said.