Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2016 to Question HL 498, what recent representations his Department has made to the government of Pakistan on that country upholding its human rights obligations and the rule of law.

I remain concerned about reports of human rights abuses in Pakistan. Our concerns are reflected in the latest update to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual human rights report. We regularly raise these concerns with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level and press Pakistan to adhere in full to its human rights commitments and uphold the rule of law. During his visit to Pakistan in March, the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Right Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the importance we attach to safeguarding the rights of all Pakistani citizens regardless of ethnicity, faith or gender. We will continue to urge Pakistan to honour in practice all its human rights obligations and respect the rule of law.