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UK concerned over human rights 'abuses' in Pakistan

By Our Staff Correspondent

LONDON, Feb 21: British Foreign Office Minister for South Asia Mr Derek Fatchett has said that Britain is concerned about the religious freedom in Pakistan which he said has been guaranteed in the constitution but not practised.

"We are concerned about religious freedom in Pakistan. Pakistan's written constitution states that individuals should have a right to practise their faith, but clearly that right is not always honoured in practice," Mr Derek Fatchett said in a written reply to a question in the House of Commons.

Mr Fatchett, who last week visited Islamabad apparently to express his concern over the actions being taken by the Pakistan Government against the International Power Projects (IPPs) said that he had raised this issue with Justice (Law) Minister during his meeting with the later in Islamabad.

He said Britain "shall continue to make the strongest possible representations" to the Government of Pakistan that people should enjoy their rights under their country's constitution.

The Foreign Office Minister said he had raised the issues of human rights abuses with the Pakistani minister. "During my visit to Pakistan last week, I raised with the minister for justice a number of concerns about human rights."

Asked by MP Brazier whether he was concerned about the arrest earlier this month of four leading members of Mohajir Qaumi Movement and about the considerable evidence of religious persecution side by side with political persecution, the minister said that he had expressed Britain's "strong concern" about all these issues.

Mr Fatchett informed the house that the Pakistani minister "reassured" him that the government was committed to the constitution and "would try to implement it".

"What is important is that practice coincides with the written letter of the law, and we shall certainly take every action possible to ensure that that step is taken and that there is religious freedom in Pakistan," the Foreign Office Minister said.

However, the minister did not reply when asked by Mr Brazier whether he was willing to receive written representations from the MQM on the political matters and from Christian rights organizations.

Asked by another MP Mrs Alice Mahon whether Britain would take up the issue of women's rights with the Pakistan government and ask Islamabad to abolish Zina laws, Mr Derek Fatchett said he had also taken up this issue with the justice (law) minister during his meeting.

"I expressed our concern that there should be equality before the law and that women in Pakistan should enjoy the same rights as men," Mr Fatchett said. "I also stressed to the ministers I met that the increasing influence of the Taliban on Pakistan is a detrimental and negative influence, on which the Pakistan Government should keep a close watch.