(New York, September 22, 2008) – The US Department of Homeland Security should immediately reconsider the visa revocation of a widely respected Pakistani human rights advocate, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released today. On September 12, 2008, US officials suddenly and inexplicably revoked the travel visa of Amina Masood Janjua, who was scheduled to fly that day from Geneva to Washington, DC, for meetings about people believed to have been “disappeared” in Pakistan.
“At a time when good US relations with Pakistan are of such vital importance, Janjua’s last-minute visa revocation is both misguided and suspicious,” said Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director at Human Rights Watch. “It suggests an attempt to prevent critics of Pakistan’s policies from sharing their views.”Mrs. Janjua’s husband, Masood Ahmed Janjua, disappeared on July 30, 2005. He is believed to have been one of hundreds of Pakistanis seized by the country’s security forces and held in illegal, secret detention. Human Rights Watch research indicates that many such detainees were transferred to US custody – either CIA or military custody – or were interrogated by US officials while held secretly by Pakistani forces.
Mrs. Janjua started an advocacy group, Defense of Human Rights, to bring together to family members of the “disappeared.” At the invitation of Amnesty International, she was to meet with members of Congress and other interested officials in Washington, DC, to express concerns about the still-missing persons in Pakistan.
To read the letter from Human Rights Watch to Michael Chertoff, director of the US Department of Homeland Security, urging him to reconsider the visa revocation, please visit:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/09/22/usint19869.htm
Related Material
More information on United States counterterrorism policy
Thematic Page, September 22, 2008
More information on human rights in Pakistan
Country Page, September 22, 2008
HRW letter urging reconsideration of decision to revoke Amina Masood Janjua's US visa
Letter, September 22, 2008