Written question asked by Madeleine Moon (Labour) on Wednesday, 18 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 April 2012. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Thursday, 26 April 2012 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Afghanistan

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of women imprisoned for alleged crimes of zina in Afghanistan in each year from 2005 to 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: We do not have national statistics on the numbers and sentences of women imprisoned in Afghanistan.We are aware of eight women currently in detention in Helmand provincial prison. Two of the eight women have been convicted for zina-related offences. To correct the answer given to question 103666, Official Report, column 376W. They have been sentenced to four years and thirteen (not three) months respectively.We do not hold annual breakdowns of Helmand statistics.

Secondary information