The GSP+ special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance is designed by the European Union to encourage developing countries to respect key international conventions on human rights, labour standards, environmental protection, and good governance.
Yet, despite considerable trade benefits from this arrangement, Pakistan continues to violate many of the core principles it has pledged to respect.
Persistent Human Rights Abuses
Pakistan’s human rights record remains highly problematic. Widespread abuses including cases of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture, and restrictions on freedom of expression continue to take place with impunity. All these acts are blatant violations of international commitments as stipulated under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture, and other key treaties that are part of the GSP+ framework.
Repression in Balochistan
The crisis is nowhere more acute than in the Balochistan province, where heavy-handed tactics from the state have transformed it into a human rights black hole.
Peaceful civil rights activists continuously face intimidation, harassment, and violence for demanding women’s and students’ rights.
These include Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a well-respected human rights defender and BYC leader who has been repeatedly targeted for organizing peaceful protests calling attention to the plight of Baloch missing persons.
Reports from local and international human rights organizations continue to document:
• Enforced disappearances: Students, activists, and ordinary citizens are abducted without due process by security forces.
• Extrajudicial killings and torture, followed by the recovery of mutilated bodies, especially from the Baloch community.
• Collective punishment against victims’ families through intimidation, police brutality, and fabrication of charges.
These grave violations not only contradict Pakistan’s obligations under international law but also undermine the very principles upon which the EU’s trade preferences are built.
Religious and Minority Persecution
Apart from Balochistan, the religious minority groups Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, and Sikhs remain victims of systematic discrimination and violence.
Blasphemy laws in the country are routinely misused against minority communities, resulting in mob violence, arbitrary arrests, and unfair prosecution. Despite repeated international condemnations, the Government of Pakistan has completely failed to effect meaningful reform or protect its vulnerable communities.
Military Operations and Humanitarian Crisis in Zehri
Recently, the situation turned a notch worse in the Balochistan district of Zehri. According to credible reports, the Pakistan military has laid a siege to the civilian areas, deploying tanks, helicopters, and armed drones in operations that ravaged the local communities. Entire villages have been encircled, homes destroyed, and communications cut off.
Civilians, including women and children, have been killed or injured, and many others remain trapped without access to medical care or humanitarian assistance.
Such actions constitute collective punishment and grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
Time for EU Accountability
Considering the strong stance and commitment of the EU with regard to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law, violations on the part of Pakistan should not be unchecked.
The GSP+ scheme should not be a reward for repression.
The following steps are urgently called for:
1. Initiate a formal and independent review of Pakistan’s GSP+ status for its compliance with international human rights conventions.
2. Engage with grass-roots, and diaspora-led civil society organizations, in particular those documenting abuses in Balochistan.
3. Call on the Government of Pakistan to immediately end enforced disappearances, to release peaceful protestors, and to hold perpetrators of abuses accountable.
The continued granting of GSP+ concessions to Pakistan, despite repeated and well-documented violations, sends a dangerous signal that economic interests outweigh human rights commitments.
The EU must ensure that trade privileges depend on actual compliance, not just empty promises, if it is to uphold its values and international credibility. The people of Balochistan, like all victims of state repression in Pakistan, deserve more than words; they need action.
Main Image: Balochwarna News
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