US, Pakistan Likely to Restrict Movement of Diplomats
Washington, DC: The United States and Pakistan are engaged in a diplomatic dispute which — despite denials from both sides — could lead to strict restrictions on the movement of their diplomats, Dawn has learned.
The Trump administration has notified Pakistani authorities that diplomats at their embassy in Washington and at consulates in other cities will not be able to travel beyond 40km from their posts without permission.
The notice, shared with the Pakistan Embassy in Washington and sent also to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, indicates that the restrictions could be imposed from May 1, if certain issues remained unresolved.
But when Dawn contacted the US State Department, it received an email from a spokesperson saying: “I can confirm that there are no restrictions on travel for Pakistani diplomats in the United States.”
Asked if those restrictions could be imposed in the near future, the US official said: “Beyond that, we have nothing to announce at this time.”
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Embassy also gave almost an identical response, saying that so far there were no restrictions on the movement of Pakistani diplomats in the US, but the embassy had no information about future restrictions.
The issue was also raised at the Tuesday afternoon news briefing at the State Department where spokesperson Heather Nauert simply said: “I don’t have anything for you on that.”
Dawn learned that Pakistan received the notification in mid-March and since then the two sides have had several discussions on this issue, both in Islamabad and Washington.
Both the US and Pakistani officials, however, clarified that the notice had nothing to do with Saturday’s fatal accident when a US diplomat ran a red light and killed a Pakistani motorcyclist.
According to this notification, diplomats will need to apply for permission at least five days ahead of an intended travel outside the imposed 25-mile radius.
In their discussions with their Pakistani counterparts, US officials also point out that Islamabad has already imposed similar restrictions on American diplomats in Pakistan, who are not allowed to visit the tribal belt or Karachi.
Pakistani officials, however, argue that those are not restrictions but security measures intended to protect American diplomats. They point out that the State Department too does not allow its diplomats in Pakistan to visit Fata, Karachi and certain other places in Pakistan out of security concerns.
Pakistan says that travel restrictions in places like Fata can be removed if the Americans are satisfied with the security arrangements in those areas.
Diplomatic sources in Washington say that the US warning is linked to a larger visa dispute. Last month, Pakistan received a letter from the State Department complaining that while Americans issue two-year visas to Pakistani diplomats, US diplomats only get one-year visas, forcing them to get their visas renewed every year during their usually three-year postings.
The State Department complained that Pakistan was also very restrictive in issuing visas to other US officials and traders and warned that it could reciprocate the measure for Pakistani officials and citizens.
The State Department maintained that Pakistanis were usually issued five-year US visas, but US officials and businessmen only got single-entry visas of three-month duration.
Recently, the United States has also introduced short duration visas to the Pakistani officials. Even the Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal and Foreign Secretary TehminaJanjua were issued one-month visas for their recent visits.
Pakistanis working for international organizations, such as the World Bank, are now also facing visa delays.
Information shared with Dawn shows that the US has issued about 40,000 non-immigrant visas to Pakistanis over the past five years.
Islamabad has issued 60,000 US visas to American citizens during the same period. But more than 60 per cent of those visas holders are US citizens of Pakistani origin who go home to visit their families. – Dawn
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Muslim Civil Rights Groups to Zuckerberg: Reported Hate Groups Are Still on Facebook, Undergo a Civil Rights Audit
Washington, DC: The following is a reaction from MadihhaAhussain, special counsel for anti-Muslim bigotry at Muslim Advocates, to Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony declaring “we do not allow hate groups on Facebook. If there’s a group that their primary purpose or a large part of what they do is spreading hate, we will ban them from the platform overall:”
“We’re shocked by Zuckerberg’s claim today that Facebook does not allow any hate groups on their platform. For years, civil rights group have been urging Facebook to address the discrimination and bigotry on its platform, and, for years, the company has done little to meaningfully address our concerns.
“In December of 2017, Muslim Advocates sent Facebook a list of 26 anti-Muslim hate groups that exist and organize on the platform. Today, to our knowledge, at least 23 of them are still organizing on Facebook. That list only accounts for Southern Poverty Law Center’s compilation of anti-Muslim groups and doesn’t include the thousands of others organized to hate against other communities.
“These are groups that organize protests outside of mosques, spread lies about Muslims, and demonize an entire religion – and yet Zuckerberg doesn’t find them hateful.
At the hearing, Senator Booker echoed a request of ours that Facebook allow itself to be audited for bigotry and discrimination by civil rights groups. In his response, Zuckerberg called it ‘a very good idea.’
“We’ve known it’s a good idea for a long time. We are also more sure than ever that it’s clearly needed. Companies like Airbnb have used audits like these to take responsibility for their platforms. They’ve hired seasoned professionals, listened to them, and made corrections to ensure that their platform doesn’t only serve the most privileged members of society.
“Mr Zuckerberg, the time for a full civil rights audit is now.”
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