UK Gov't May Be Unaware of Britons Facing Execution in Pakistan: Watchdog

MOSCOW, December 26 (Sputnik) — The government of the United Kingdom may not have information on Britons facing the death penalty in Pakistan, the Reprieve human rights group said Friday.

"Research by Reprieve has found that the Pakistani authorities list six British nationals – five men and one woman – as being under sentence of death for alleged drugs offences. However, contact with the Foreign Office (FCO) has suggested that they are aware of the identity of just one of those individuals," a statement published on the group's website said.

Shortly after Taliban militants killed over 140 people, most of them children, in a school attack in Peshawar, northern Pakistan, on December 16, the authorities reintroduced the death penalty. They later said they would execute 500 militants in detention in the coming weeks.

In an earlier statement, Reprieve declared that many of the detainees awaiting execution are not associated with terrorism, but may end up being executed anyway.

"It is alarming that Britain does not seem to be sure how many of its own citizens are at risk on Pakistan's death row. The Foreign Secretary must urgently clarify this, and ensure assistance is provided before it is too late," Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve's death penalty team, was quoted as saying in today's press release.

The rights group noted it had not yet received an answer to a letter sent to UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in which the group expressed concern that the United Kingdom would not be able to help its citizens in Pakistan if it does not know who they are.