{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://casar.house.gov/media/press-releases/news-casar-leads-60-members-congress-calling-release-political-prisoners", "NEWS: Casar Leads 60+ Members of Congress Calling for the Release of Political Prisoners in Pakistan, Including Former Prime Minister Imran Khan", "2024-10-23", "2024", "2024-10", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Greg Casar", "C001131", "casar.house.gov", "casar", "https://casar.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. Representatives Greg Casar (D-Texas), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), and Summer Lee (D-Penn.), along with 59 other Members of Congress, are calling on President Joe Biden to center human rights in U.S. policy towards Pakistan following the country\u2019s Feb. 2024 National Assembly elections, and on Pakistani authorities to release political prisoners, including former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.\n\nThis is the first letter from U.S. Members of Congress calling for political prisoners in Pakistan, including Khan, to be released. Casar authored the letter as a follow-up to the nearly unanimous passage of H.Res. 901, which called for the U.S. to support democracy and human rights in Pakistan.\n\nIn February 2024, the Pakistani elections saw a historic level of irregularities, including widespread electoral fraud, state-led efforts to disenfranchise voters, the arrest and detention of political leaders, journalists, and activists, and the continued imprisonment of Khan. That month, Casar and 30 other members urgedBiden and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to investigate pre- and post-poll rigging in Pakistan\u2019s parliamentary elections. Many of those concerns are reiterated in today\u2019s letter.\n\n\u201cWe echo the calls for Khan\u2019s immediate release and for an end to widespread arbitrary detention of party members and activists in Pakistan,\u201d the members wrote. \u201cWe ask your Administration to urgently secure the guarantees from the Pakistani government for Khan\u2019s safety and well-being and urge U.S. embassy officials to visit him in prison.\u201d\n\n\u201cMore broadly, developments since the February vote point to a clear turn towards authoritarianism in the country,\u201d the members continued. \u201cThe government has intensified its crackdown on social media and the internet as part of a broader effort to suppress political activism, which it deems to be \u2018anti-state propaganda\u2019 and \u2018digital terrorism.\u2019 These repressive measures [are] an attack on fundamental human rights\u2026 In addition, Pakistani authorities are increasingly engaging in transnational repression\u2026 We join our Pakistani American constituents, as well as community leaders and elected officials throughout our country and around the world, in standing in solidarity with the people of Pakistan and their struggle to rebuild a genuinely representative democracy.\u201d\n\nThe letter is authored by U.S. Representative Greg Casar (TX-35), co-led by U.S. RepresentativesJim McGovern (MA-02) and Summer Lee (PA-12), and signed by U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (VA-08), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), Andr\u00e9 Carson (IN-07), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Joe Courtney (CT-02), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jes\u00fas \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34), Ra\u00fal Grijalva (AZ-07), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Dan Kildee (MI-08), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Greg Landsman (OH-01), John Larson (CT-01), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Jaime Raskin (MD-08), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda T. S\u00e1nchez (CA-38), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Dina Titus (NV-20), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), David Trone (MD-06), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez (NY-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12),and Susan Wild (PA-07).\n\nIt is supported by First Pakistan Global, Democracy And Human Rights Alliance, Community Alliance for Peace and Justice - Pakistan Democracy Campaign, and The Coalition to Change U.S. Policy on Pakistan (CUSP).\n\nThe full letter can be viewed here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://casar.house.gov/media/press-releases/news-casar-leads-60-members-congress-calling-release-political-prisoners"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.625583041459322, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}