Daily Times

Since the visit by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to Pakistan in Nov, 2021 to discuss the renewal of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences, doubts about continuation of Pakistan’s GSP plus status have been provoked. During the visit the EU MEPs stated that the EU wishes to remain a reliable partner of Pakistan provided Islamabad fulfills its commitment to implement 27 conditions. However, the delegates to date have explicitly been highlighting that the EU Parliament is very concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation, which puts into question the continuation of the GSP plus status of the country. The three major areas of concerns explicitly expressed by EU MEPs’ are minority rights, women’s rights, and freedom of freedom. Moreover, addition of five new conventions pertaining to greater accessibility for people with physical disability, eradication of child labor and environmental safety to the existing 27 conditions is also evident from the following facts. Pakistan is on the agenda of EU and US which is dictated by the geo-political environment. In that geo-political environment, China and Pakistan, not just in their individual capacity as states but as economic partners as well, pose serious geo-economic challenges to the West’s global dominance. It is this geo-political situation that makes it easier for EU and US to turn a blind eye to India despite its poorest track record of human and minority rights abuses. The EU’s GSP Plus is following the same path as that of FATF. Initially FATF too had 27-items action plan to be largely complied with (Pakistan complied with 26 out of those) and when Pakistan was all set to get out of grey list they added 7 more actionable items to the plan. So EU’s efforts are hinting that GSP Plus just like FATF is also turning out to be a tool of coercion against ‘not-so-favorite’ countries. In this context, it is pertinent to highlight how exploitative and prejudiced are EU & US in dealing, particularly with Pakistan.

Contrary to their claims of championing human rights, the developed world doesn’t enjoy a very enviable track record. UK has the honor of being a major partaker of colonialism and imperialism and the inventor of modern slavery. White supremacy, racism and ethnic disparity have remained the hallmark of the erstwhile British social system. In the contemporary era, UK has a history of siding with the western allies specially the US to commit human rights violations in other countries while being part of collation force. Nevertheless, human rights issues within the borders are not dwindling and we keep hearing about incidents of Islamophobia, ethnic and racial inequalities, anti-Semitism etc. According to HRW Report 2021, latest HR violations have been reported in the UK during 2019-2020. Amnesty International observed serious failings in the government’s treatment of the Wind- rush generation, who settled in the UK as British nationals from the Caribbean and other Commonwealth countries. During the first national lockdown, police in London conducted a record number of stop and searches i.e., 43,644, of which 10,000 targeted black men. In Jun 2020, police used excessive force against “Black Lives Matter” protesters in London. According to a 2021 report, migrant women are excluded from most government benefits and so they are particularly vulnerable to domestic violence and not being able to access support. Julian Assange remained detained at Belmarsh prison and faced prosecution in the U.S. for publication of disclosed documents as part of his work with Wiki-leaks. Amnesty Int’l called on the US to drop the charges and, on the UK, to halt his extradition to the US where he would face a real risk of serious human rights violations. In Mar 2020, the government introduced legislation regarding members of armed forces accused of crimes and torture committed overseas; however, the bill is pending in the parliament with no headway.

Contrary to their claims of championing human rights, the developed world doesn’t enjoy a very enviable track record.

Like UK, France has also been both violating and exploiting the human rights in the name of freedom of expression, by targeting faith or a certain race and contrarily championing the global moves of black listing other states. According to Human Rights Watch Report-2021, numerous HR violations have been reported in France during 2019- 2020. Migrants and asylum seekers faced inhuman and degrading living conditions as well as police abuse and harassment. Instances of harassment and attacks remained high against minorities, including ethnic and religious. Migrants faced discrimination during Covid-19 for provision of services and support. Racist incidents increased by almost 57 percent compared to 2018, with anti-Muslim incidents by 54 percent, anti-Semitic increasing by 27 percent, and all others by 131 percent. Around 5,350 victims of offenses were reported due to ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race in 2019, an increase of 11 percent over 2018. Physical attacks against transgender people increased by 130 percent. Likewise, France repatriated a seriously ill 7-year-old French girl from a locked camp holding family members of Islamic State (ISIS) suspects in northeast Syria. In Oct 2020, a teacher had shown caricatures of the holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a class on freedom of expression who was killed and in retaliation government closed few mosques and Muslim associations and deported few whom government thought were radicalized.

Germany is also one of the many European countries that used human rights as a reason to elate its stature that has gone down due to the history of war crimes, worst human rights abuse remembered globally as “holocaust” and by participating in wrong wars waged under US umbrella in recent decades. A few glaring examples from Human Rights Watch Report 2021 are Racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism, including violent hate crimes, remained a concern. Over 463 anti-Islamic offenses and 469 anti-Semitic crimes were reported. Similarly, 33 attacks targeted mosques and no one has been convicted. In total 1,620 attacks on refugees and 128 attacks on refugee camps in 2019 were recorded. According to a 2019 report on discrimination, the number of cases of racial discrimination rose by almost 10% since 2015. Islamophobia in Germany is described by discrimination in the workforce, negative coverage in the media, violence against Muslims and attacks targeting mosques. At least, 122 mosques were targeted during year 2020. India too has a very deplorable situation at home. Amnesty International Report on Human Rights 2020-21 revealed a multitude of violations about India. Freedom of expression was guaranteed selectively, and dissent was repressed through unlawful restrictions on peaceful protests and by silencing critics. Human rights defenders, including students, academics, journalists and artists, were arbitrarily arrested, often without charge or trial. Indian authorities failed to adequately investigate or punish perpetrators of violence based on caste, sex and gender, and carried out reprisals against those who reported rape and caste-based crimes. The BJP-led government continued to impose harsh and discriminatory restrictions on Muslim-majority areas in IIOJ&K since revoking the state’s constitutional status in Aug, 2019. The government also clamped down on critics, journalists, and human rights activists. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) continued to provide effective immunity from prosecution to Indian security forces, even for serious human rights abuses.

India continued to lead with the largest number of internet shutdowns globally. According to Software Freedom Law Centre, there were 71 shutdowns, out of which 57 were in Jammu and Kashmir by early Nov, 2020. In Nov, 2020 when mass protests by farmers of various faiths began protesting against the government’s new farm laws, BJP government and supporters began blaming the Sikhs, another religious minority. They accused Sikhs of having a “Khalistani” agenda, a reference to a Sikh separatist insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s and 90s. Likewise, a mob of Hindutva fascists gathered outside a young Muslim boy’s home, and then viciously assaulted him, because the boy shared a Diwali meme on WhatsApp. Unfortunately, these lynching are now daily occurrence in Modi’s India. Last but not the least horrendous act was witnessed on this Diwali on Nov 4, 2021 when a member of Hindutva organization Rashtriya Bajrang Dal forced a Muslim shopkeeper to close his shop because he was not Hindu.

Those living in a glass house must never choose to throw stones on others. But in the cruel power play of global politics, this is exactly what is being done with total impunity.

The writer is a civil servant by profession, a writer by choice and a motivational speaker by passion!