LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday directed the ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) to submit a detailed report on efforts made to provide consular assistance to Pakistanis imprisoned in Iran in order to secure their repatriation.

Earlier, representing a public interest petition, Barrister Sarah Belal said the state was responsible to represent the imprisoned citizens forcefully as required by law to expedite their repatriation and ensure consular assistance at all stages of their imprisonment.

She said the efforts of the MoFA’s Iran desk in holding consistent meetings with their counterparts in Tehran to bring back prisoners were laudable but a consular policy was still pending.

She said due to the lack of a uniform consular policy, Pakistani citizens imprisoned abroad lacked consular support and adequate legal representation.

Justice Shahid Waheed adjourned hearing for a week.

As per a report submitted by the MoFA [Foreign Office] at the previous hearing, 102 Pakistanis are imprisoned in Iran. Of these, 65 have already been convicted and are eligible for repatriation to their home country under a Prisoner Transfer Agreement signed by the two nations in 2014. The agreement allows prisoners to complete their sentences in their native countries.

Justice Project Pakistan, a non-profit organisation working for prisoners’ rights, commended the Foreign Office’s efforts in making representations to secure the repatriation of prisoners from Iran. It said Pakistan’s recent diplomatic efforts resulted in repatriation from countries including Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. However, a uniform consular access policy will ensure that such measures are implemented across the board and not contingent on the efforts of individual embassies.

The majority of Pakistani prisoners in foreign jails are arrested for non-lethal crimes such as drug trafficking, theft and violation of immigration laws.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2021