Government grilled over Pakistanis imprisoned abroad

LHC expresses dissatisfaction with federal govt’s reply on policy

LAHORE: Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction with the federal government’s reply to a petition pointing out lack of consular support for Pakistanis facing execution in Gulf countries.

He said the government’s response showed that it had no policy to protect the fundamental rights of overseas Pakistanis.

The petitioners are represented by the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP). They include relatives of those recently been beheaded in Saudi Arabia.

The court was informed by the petitioners’ counsel that the reports submitted by the government claiming that it provided legal and financial assistance to the detainees did not represent a policy document. The measures were in compliance with guidelines on the issue.

Justice Shah said that there had been no progress on part of the Foreign Ministry towards drafting such a policy and that there was no record of its implementation.

The court observed that despite generating revenue with help from the workforce, the government had failed to protect its citizens abroad. The constitutional duty of the government of Pakistan to uphold the fundamental rights and protect the lives of its citizens was not limited to the geographic boundaries of the country, he said.

The petition said that out of the 8,597 Pakistanis imprisoned abroad, 4,357 were in six Gulf countries “where they are deprived of fundamental rights”.

The judge ordered the government to provide the record of implementation of the policy. It asked the JPP to provide a list about the shortcomings of the guidelines and consular policies of other states for a comparison at the next hearing.

Counsel for the government earlier said that the government could not interfere with internal affairs of other autonomous states.

Sameer Khosa, who has been appointed amicus curiae, said that if the government could provide assistance to Zaid Hamid and Moeed Pirzada, it could also make an effort to repatriate lesser Pakistanis.

The judge asked, “Do the petitioners have to be media people to be granted these rights?”

At a previous hearing, Justice Shah had remarked that it was necessary to know if the government had a proper policy to deal with the issue, and if it was in line with international laws and was applied across the board.

“The Supreme Court has issued directions to provide legal aid [to the detained] and visit the jails… but where is the policy in this regard?” The judge said if visiting the jails and providing legal aid to the detainees abroad was part of the policy, the government should inform the court what relief it had been able to provide to its citizens.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2016.