{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415804", "Smith leads bipartisan congressional letterSmith calls on Pakistan to protect and return abducted Christian woman Neha Faqir to her family", "2026-08-26", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), today called upon the government of Pakistan to protect the safety and fundamental rights of Neha Faqir, an 18-year-old Pakistani Christian woman, who was allegedly abducted in March and subsequently converted to Islam. A Pakistani court has rejected a petition brought by her family seeking her return.\n\n\u201cThe circumstances surrounding Neha Faqir\u2019s disappearance and subsequent conversion raise profoundly troubling questions about her safety, freedom of religion, and ability to exercise her rights without coercion or intimidation,\u201d said Smith.\n\nOn August 20th, Smith and ten other Members of Congress sent a letter to Pakistan\u2019s Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar, expressing concerns over Faqir\u2019s case and urging \u201cthe Government of Pakistan to take appropriate action to ensure a just resolution of this matter.\u201d\n\nIn addition to Smith, the bipartisan letter was also signed by Reps. James P. McGovern (D-MA), French Hill (R-AR), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Andy Harris (R-MD), Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Riley Moore (R-WV), Randy Weber (R-TX), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Brad Sherman (D-CA), and Blake Moore (R-UT).\n\nIn the letter, the lawmakers urge Pakistani authorities to take the necessary steps within their judicial system to \u201censure Ms. Faqir\u2019s physical safety and well-being; ensure she has confidential access to independent legal counsel and an opportunity to communicate freely and privately with her family; and ensure that any further judicial proceedings are conducted under conditions that allow her to express her wishes freely and without intimidation or undue influence.\u201d\n\nThe Members also refer to Pakistan\u2019s own constitutional protections, including Article 20, which guarantees freedom to profess, practice, and propagate religion, and Article 25, which guarantees equality before the law.\n\n\u201cPakistan\u2019s Constitution protects religious freedom and equality before the law\u2014but this means little if a young woman cannot safely and freely express her own beliefs,\u201d continued Smith.\n\n\u201cThis case is particularly important for Pakistan\u2019s religious minorities, who have been subject to abduction, forced conversion and forced marriage.\u201d\n\nChristian Solidarity International (CSI) brought international scrutiny to Faqir\u2019s case on June 10th, reporting that she disappeared on March 24th after attending a sewing course. She was later found at a madrassa in Lahore, where she had been converted to Islam.\n\nAccording to CSI, Faqir appeared before the Lahore High Court on June 9. Her family requested an opportunity to speak with her privately, but the request was denied, and the court subsequently rejected the family\u2019s petition seeking her return.\n\nCSI also highlighted Faqir\u2019s case at a June 16th hearing at the Palace of Westminster on coerced conversion and marriage of religious-minority women, sponsored and chaired by Lord Alton.\n\nA leading religious freedom lawmaker, Smith has long raised concerns about the abduction and forced conversion of religious-minority women and girls, as well as the failure of authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.\n\nSmith is the author of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016 (PL 114-281), which significantly enhanced and upgraded the State Department\u2019s toolkit to better promote and advance religious freedom throughout the globe. In July of 2025, Smith chaired a TLHRC congressional hearing on human rights in Pakistan.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-27T16:10:01Z", "2026-08-27T16:10:50Z"]], "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://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415804"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0441988706588745, "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"}