Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last raised the plight of minorities in Pakistan with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth; what response they received; and whether they asked the Secretary-General to raise continued human rights violations with the government of Pakistan.

We continue to be in close contact with the Commonwealth Secretariat on its support to member states to live up to the commitments to tolerance, to human rights, good governance and the rule of law set out in the Commonwealth Charter.

In addition, the British Government will continue to urge Pakistan to honour in practice its human rights obligations, including those related to religious minorities, and to uphold the rule of law.