Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations his Department has received from human rights organisations on reports of alleged human rights violations in Pakistan.

We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Pakistan closely. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, spoke to the High Commissioner for Pakistan to the UK, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, on 9 May and to Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, on 10 and 13 May, where he emphasised the importance of peaceful democratic rights, including the right to protest, adherence to the rule of law and transparency in legal processes. Where there are allegations of human rights violations, we expect these to be fully investigated in line with international human rights law.