EU calls out Pakistan on human rights, blasphemy law

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Pakistan has been called out by the European Union (EU), its largest trade partner, on a wide range of human rights issues that go against the ‘GSP+’ preferences that the former has been enjoying since 2013.

The trade concession under this expires in December 2023. A team of the EU toured Pakistan when it pressed on political and economic reforms, concerted moves to tackle human rights violations, and against the ‘misuse’ of the blasphemy law that targets the religious and ethnic minorities and other vulnerable sections of the society.
Members of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) toured Pakistan on September 19 to 21 to see if Pakistan met the human development factors that make it eligible for ‘GSP+’.

“They called for determined and structured action, including the swift adoption of laws against torture and enforced disappearances, steps to substantially reduce the number of crimes carrying the death penalty and to apply the new procedures for mercy petitions,” the EU mission in Islamabad said.

The GSP+ is an entrenched trade and development policy instrument, in place since 1971. Under this status — set to expire on Dec 31, 2023 — there is zero percent duty on several products. An end to the ‘GSP+’ status could seriously jeopardize Pakistan’s trade which has grown by 78 percent to €12.2 billion in 2021 from €6.9bn in 2013.

Pakistan competes with several others on its exports of textiles and apparel that form a bulk of its trade with the EU members. Among them are Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and India.

Pakistan has been competing with India on the export of Basmati rice to the EU, where India dominates. Both the South Asian nations are engaged in a tussle over patenting the brand basmati that both countries grow.
As of 2021-22, India’s Basmati exports to the EU increased about percent to over 3.1 lakh tonnes valued at $264 million, compared with 2.19 lakh tonnes worth $2.06 in 2019-20. In contrast, Pakistan has reported a drop of over 30 percent in Basmati shipments.

As for the EU delegation’s Pakistan visit, its members discussed a wide range of human rights topics during their meetings with the speaker and members of the National Assembly, as well as with the chairman and members of the Senate. “They also held meetings with the Minister of Human Rights, the Minister of Law and Justice, and the Chairwoman of the National Commission on Human Rights. The delegation met with civil society organizations, women human rights activists, and the media. In these discussions, they talked about the criminal justice system, torture and the death penalty, economic and social rights, prevention of domestic violence, and the freedoms of religion and belief and the freedom of expression both online and offline,” Dawn newspaper reported (September 23, 2022)

During the meeting, the members called for the adoption of laws protecting journalists, eliminating obstacles to the work of civil society organizations and media, and the rights to collective bargaining unionization should be implemented. The delegation also highlighted the need to prevent the misuse of blasphemy laws, by applying safeguards against false accusations.

“The members and Pakistani senators committed to sending a joint letter to Pakistan’s Supreme Court judges, requesting the court system, particularly at lower levels, speed up its processing of blasphemy cases,”
The EU members also called for decisive actions to prevent domestic violence, child lab,ur and child marriage, it added.

The chairperson of the delegation, Maria Arena, said that the visit allowed the committee to get an overall picture of the challenges faced by Pakistan when it came to human rights.

“Significant progress and renewed commitment to genuinely change the situation on the ground are essential for Pakistan to succeed in its application process for post-2023 GSP +,” she highlighted.

The European Parliament, Arena added, was working hard to adapt the scheme’s human rights requirements and how beneficiary countries and the EU cooperate. (iffras.org)

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