LAHORE: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday told the Lahore High Court that 9,476 Pakistanis were languishing in jails of 100 countries.

The figures were obtained from the governments of countries through official correspondence, a law officer said, adding that the government took steps to provide legal aid to the detained citizens. The law officer, however, sought more time from the court to present consular protection policy.

Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah was hearing a petition filed by families of Pakistanis imprisoned in Gulf countries.

Expressing dismay over unending requests for time by the government, the chief justice observed the country was waiting for a policy and there could not be any more delays. He ordered the ministry to submit the report on next hearing.

Earlier, Barrister Sarah Belal of Justice Project Pakistan represented the petitioners and argued that guidelines previously submitted by the ministry could not be taken as comprehensive policy on consular protection. Under the Vienna Convention, it was the host state’s responsibility to provide consular access to nationals of sending state.

Hearing an identical petition about Pakistanis detained in US-governed Bagram jail of Afghanistan, the chief justice directed the ministry to confirm if there were any Pakistanis detained in the jail. The hearing would resume on Jan 20, 2018.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2017