HC Deb 31 January 2000 vol 343 cc458-9W
Mr. Maclean

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the number of Christians murdered in Pakistan under the Government of Nawaz Sharif. [107526]

Mr. Hain

We regularly raised our concerns about the position of Christians in Pakistan during the administration of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. There are no accurate and comprehensive statistics available about the number of Christians murdered in Pakistan during this period.

Mr. Maclean

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to General Musharraf about the treatment of Christians in Pakistan under the Sharia Law. [107521]

Mr. Hain

We have carefully noted General Musharraf s promise to Pakistan's minorities that their rights would be respected and that they would be treated as equal citizens. We have urged the Pakistani authorities to respect human rights, notably when I met Sharifuddin Pirzada, a civilian member of Pakistan's National Security Council on 8 December, and when our High Commissioner in Islamabad saw General Musharraf on 15 October and 15 November 1999.

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