A conference and film screening titled “GSP+: The EU’s Silent Compromise” was held at the European Parliament. The Baloch National Movement (BNM) also participated in this significant international event, presenting evidence of Pakistan’s human rights violations in Balochistan and calling for a re-evaluation of Pakistan’s GSP+ status in light of its grave abuses.
BNM stated at this global forum that maintaining Pakistan’s GSP+ status despite unimaginable human rights violations is inconsistent with European values.
Hosted by EU Today, the conference examined whether Pakistan should continue to enjoy preferential trade access to the European market under GSP+.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), Dr. Naseem Baloch, said that enforced disappearances remain the darkest feature of life in Balochistan. In just the last three months of 2025, 234 new cases of enforced disappearance were recorded. Women such as Nasreena Baloch and Mahjabeen Baloch, abducted earlier this year, remain missing. Over the same period, 22 extrajudicial killings were carried out by the CTD and state-backed death squads. Many of these victims had previously been forcibly disappeared. Their bodies—mutilated and bearing marks of torture—were returned to families. These are not isolated incidents but a consistent pattern of state behaviour.
He said that thousands of Baloch civilians have been forcibly disappeared over two decades, and thousands killed in custody. Mass graves have been found in multiple regions. In Dasht, near Quetta, a cemetery known as the “cemetery of the unknowns” holds hundreds of unidentified bodies—sons, brothers, fathers who vanished and returned only as nameless remains.
Addressing members of the European Parliament, he said: “Thank you for giving voice today to one of the most silenced and persecuted nations of our time—the brave Baloch people. Your presence is not symbolic; it is a message to the world that suffering cannot be hidden behind borders, and that human dignity remains a universal concern.”
Dr. Naseem Baloch added that he stands before them not only as a representative of BNM but as a witness to a decades-long humanitarian tragedy that continues with alarming intensity.
He said that in a region rich in resources but deprived of rights, the Baloch people are living through one of South Asia’s most persistent and least recognised human rights crises. In recent years, Pakistan’s security establishment has intensified its campaign of repression. Peaceful political leaders, students, human rights defenders, and activists are being targeted with a ferocity meant to silence an entire generation.
“Among the brightest of that generation was Chairman Zubair Baloch—a young leader whose only weapon was his voice. He believed in dialogue, democratic rights, and peaceful political struggle. His life was ended with bullets—a message that emerging Baloch leadership will be extinguished before it can grow. His death is not just a tragedy; it is a reflection of policy.”
Criticising the state’s crackdown on the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, he said that since March 2025, BYC activists have been harassed, arrested, and detained under fabricated charges. Their peaceful marches and public gatherings were met with violence. “This is not a political narrative,” he added. “These violations have been documented by UN Working Groups, Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders, and global media. The world cannot claim ignorance—the evidence is overwhelming.”
He further said that the situation has taken a more dangerous turn in recent months: Pakistan has deployed armed drones over Balochistan, targeting civilian areas. In Zehri, drone strikes killed four children and several other civilians. “Villages that once feared checkpoints now fear the sky itself. This is not counterterrorism; it is the use of advanced weaponry against an unarmed population—this is a war crime.”
He said that alongside physical violence, Pakistan has suffocated the political space in Balochistan. Peaceful protests are criminalised, political parties banned, and leaders either exiled or killed. Even mothers holding silent photographs of their missing children are labelled “security threats.”
He noted that to weaken the secular and democratic Baloch movement, the state has empowered religious extremist groups—a deliberate strategy to fracture society, crush progressive voices, and destabilise the region, with implications extending far beyond Balochistan.
Dr. Naseem Baloch said Balochistan is rich in copper, gold, gas, minerals and vast coastal wealth, yet its people remain among the most deprived. Billions are extracted annually by companies benefiting from the GSP+ scheme, while local communities lack clean water, quality education, and basic infrastructure. “This is not development; it is colonial extraction under military occupation.”
He added that while Balochistan bears the deepest wounds, other marginalised nations—Pashtuns, Sindhis, Kashmiris, Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, and the people of Gilgit-Baltistan—face similar patterns of enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, and political repression. “This is not a regional issue—it is structural.”
He emphasised the pivotal role of the European Union: Pakistan continues to benefit from GSP+, a mechanism designed to promote compliance with human rights, labour standards, and good governance—yet Pakistan has systematically violated these conditions.
“No state involved in enforced disappearances, drone strikes on civilians, torture, mass graves, and political repression can be considered compliant.”
He said the credibility of GSP+ depends on its ability to enforce its own standards. Values-based foreign policy collapses when violators are rewarded with preferential access.
“I request this Parliament to give full weight to the findings of UN Working Groups and the calls of Amnesty International and Front Line Defenders. I urge you to reassess Pakistan’s GSP+ status in light of overwhelming evidence. I ask you to demand transparency, accountability, and measurable human rights improvements—and to support an independent international investigation into enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and mass graves in Balochistan.”
He said that despite decades of violence, the Baloch people continue their peaceful, intellectual, and political struggle. “Our struggle is not against any nation; it is against oppression, exploitation, and the denial of basic humanity.”
“Your presence gives us hope—hope that the world has not turned away, hope that justice can prevail, and hope that the wounds of our people will no longer be ignored.”
In the end, he said: “The Baloch people seek what every nation seeks: freedom, dignity, and the right of self-determination. Today, I ask Europe to stand with us—stand with human rights—stand with freedom.”
The event was organised by EU Today and hosted by MEP Georgiana Teodorescu of the ECR Group. It was attended by Members of the European Parliament, human rights advocates, journalists, and civil society activists. The discussions focused on Pakistan’s human rights record and the European Commission’s handling of GSP+ conditionality.
