Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2014-06-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent stonings in Pakistan; and what steps they will take to ensure that the values set out in the Commonwealth Charter are being upheld in that country.

Baroness Warsi

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made a statement on 29 May urging the Government of Pakistan to do all in its power to eradicate honour killings and calling on the Pakistani authorities to investigate fully the murder of Farzana Parveen. We continue to urge the Pakistan government to bring the perpetrators to justice. I am pleased that Prime Minister Sharif condemned the murder and immediately demanded action.

Pakistan is included as a “country of concern” in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report and we regularly raise the subject of human rights for all Pakistan’s citizens with the Pakistani government. We continue to encourage Pakistan and all Commonwealth countries to uphold the values as set out in the Commonwealth Charter signed in 2012.