Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential implications for its policies of the (a) recent sentencing to death on charges of blasphemy of Shaughta Karan in Pakistan and (b) possible violations of (i) freedom of religion or belief and (ii) other human rights in that country.

Pakistan is a FCDO human rights priority country. We work to protect and promote human rights in Pakistan through our diplomatic engagement and programme funding. This includes regularly raising our opposition to the death penalty and concerns about the misuse of blasphemy laws, both in principle and in relation to specific cases. I underlined the importance of promoting religious tolerance and harmony with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Azam Tarar on the 4 September.