ISLAMABAD: Speakers at the launching of a report on Wednesday decried the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pakistani missions in Saudi Arabia for their failure to provide legal representation to Pakistani prisoners languishing in jails abroad.

The report titled “Caught in a Web”, prepared by civil society group Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), documents the plight of Pakistani citizens imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.

It highlights that vulnerable prisoners suffer due process violations such as long periods of detention without charge or trial, no access to legal assistance, pressure from the authorities to sign confessions and accept predetermined prison sentences and ineffective translation services for defendants.

According to its findings, being the second largest migrant community, there are around 2.6 million Pakistanis — mostly workers — in Saudi Arabia. However, more Pakistanis are executed in the country every year than any other foreign nationality, the JPP regrets.

It reveals that 66 Pakistani citizens have been executed since October 2014, while 2,795 are languishing in prisons.

Discussing the plight of Pakistani prisoners abroad, outgoing Senator Farhat­ullah Babar highlighted flaws in the Saudi criminal justice system.

“The detained Pakistanis rarely receive any response from Pakistani government agencies that they turn to for help,” he said, adding that there should be a cell in one or various relevant ministries with the mandate to examine, pursue and investigate the cases of Pakistani prisoners abroad.

He recommended the development of a database of all overseas prisoners which should be regularly updated with the progress of their cases or convictions.

“The Foreign Office should have a universal consular protection policy. We should also negotiate bilateral agreements that allow Pakistani citizens in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries to serve their sentences at home,” said Shireen Mazari of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

Outgoing Senator of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Sehar Kamran, said that the community welfare fund collected from Pak­istanis in Saudi Arabia must be utilised to hire effective legal representation for those detained there.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2018