Trade Law Daily is a service of Warren Communications News.

House Bill Eyes Sanctioning Pakistani Officials for Repression

Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, announced Sept. 15 that he has introduced a bill to authorize the president to sanction current and former Pakistani officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for allegedly violating human rights and undermining democracy.

Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article

Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.

The Pakistan Freedom and Accountability Act has eight co-sponsors, including Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., the ranking member of the South and Central Asia Subcommittee. It was referred to the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees.

A Pakistani journalist told a House human rights panel in June that Pakistan is a "military dictatorship" and that the U.S. should impose Magnitsky sanctions on Pakistani officials responsible for torture, extrajudicial killings, election rigging and censorship (see 2506250046). A House bill introduced in March would focus such sanctions on Pakistan’s army chief of staff (see 2503260032).