Distinguished guests, members of parliament, respective panellists, human rights defenders, thank you to the organisers for providing this important platform to discuss human rights situation in Pakistan and the implication of its preferential trade status under the generalised scheme of preference commonly known as GSP plus. The European Union granted Pakistan this special trade status with the expectation that it would comply with international conventions on human rights, labour rights, and democratic governance. The intention is clear.
Trade privileges should encourage governments to respect the fundamental rights and dignity of their citizens. Unfortunately, the reality on the ground in Pakistan tells a very different story. For decades, the people of Balochistan have faced systematic and widespread human rights violations.
These include enforced disappearances, extrajudicial and custodial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, and the separation of political voices. Thousands of Baloch political activists, students, journalists, and ordinary civilians have been forcibly disappeared. Many are held in secret torture centres without access to courts or contact with their families.
Some later reappear as mutilated bodies found on roadsides, a practise widely referred to as the kill-and-dump policy. In 2025, we have documented 1,355 cases of enforced disappearances. and 229 cases of extrajudicial killings.
The figures for this year up to 20th March are equally alarming. 228 enforced disappearances and 81 extrajudicial killings and these disappearances include teen women. Out of these ten, five were later released after being subjected to torture and one was presented in the media with fabricated charges.
Notably, 21 of these killings occurred within the first 10 days of the month of March in a single town called Panjgur in Balochistan. For many families in Balochistan, human rights are not an abstract concept. They mean the difference between knowing whether your son is alive or spending years searching for his dead body.
Mothers, sisters, and children continue to protest peacefully holding photographs of their missing loved ones. Many have marched hundreds of kilometres to Islamabad demanding justice and accountability through peaceful demonstration. Yet, their voices remain largely unheard.
These actions constitute clear violations of international human rights law including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Torture, both of which Pakistan has ratified. Distinguished participants, the shrinking space for political dissent and civil liberties in Pakistan is increasingly shrinking. The arrest and treatment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan has raised serious concerns about the rule of law and democratic norms in Pakistan.
Unlawful arrests, politically motivated prosecutions, and the denial of due process must be condemned wherever they occur in the world. As I talk of Balochistan, these violations are
committed by a state. So it is important to recognise that whoever is in power, they do the same.
We have to know when Imran Khan was in power, the suffering of the people of Balochistan did not come to an end. Today, many members of his political party are facing forms of repression that Baloch activists, students, and political workers have endured for decades. When injustice is ignored because the victims are marginalised or politically inconvenient, it does not disappear, it spreads.
What Baloch activists have endured for decades is now being experienced more widely across Pakistan. Despite this deeply concerning human rights situation, Pakistan continues to benefit from the GSP policy scheme of the European Union. This raises an important question.
If the human rights conditions attached to this programme are not effectively enforced, what message does it send, both to the victims and to the governments that violate international law? Human rights conditionality must not exist only on papers. It must operate as a genuine mechanism to encourage reform and ensure accountability. We therefore respectfully urge policymakers within the European Union and members of the European Parliament to conduct a serious and transparent review of Pakistan’s compliance with its human rights commitments under GSP.
Independent human rights organisations, civil society groups, and the families of victims, particularly from the affected regions as occupied Balochistan, must be included in this process. Before I conclude, I must respectfully address Honourable Member of the European Parliament who spoke through the radio. We are very thankful to her that she mentioned the plight and ordeal of the Baloch people.
On this platform, we request her to state as a global advocate for human rights and democratic values. The people of Balochistan look to institutions such as European Parliaments. We urge all the European Member Parliaments and other human rights activists to be the voice of the voiceless people.
The people of Balochistan are not asking for privilege. They are asking for freedom, justice, and for self-determination in accordance with the UN Charter. Trade agreements should never silence voices of victims.
If human rights conditionality under GSP Paris is to have meaning, it must result in justice and protection for the people of Balochistan. I thank you.
