9,476 Pakistanis in jails of 100 countries

LAHORE: The ministry of foreign affairs on Friday told the Lahore High Court that 9,476 Pakistanis were languishing in jails of 100 countries. The figures were obtained from the governments of countries through official correspondence, a law officer said and added the government took steps to provide legal aid to the citizens detained abroad.

The law officer, however, sought more time from the court to present consular protection policy. Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah was hearing a petition filed by families of Pakistanis imprisoned abroad.

Expressing dismay over unending requests for time by the government, the chief justice observed, the country was waiting for a policy, there could not be any further delays. He ordered the ministry of foreign affairs to submit the report before the court on next hearing.

Earlier, Barrister Sarah Belal of Justice Project Pakistan, represented the petitioners and argued that the guidelines previously submitted by the ministry could not be taken as comprehensive policy of consular protection. She also maintained that under the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations 1963, it was the responsibility of the host state to provide consular access to the nationals of the sending state.

The Article 4 of Pakistan’s Constitution also placed a duty on the government to protect the life and due process rights of its citizens at home and abroad, she added. Hearing another identical petition about Pakistanis detained in US-governed Bagram Jail of Afghanistan, the chief justice directed the ministry to confirm if there were any Pakistanis detained in Bagram. The CJ would resume hearing on January 20, 2018.