- Foreign Office spokesperson reaffirms Pakistan’s commitment to fulfilling all int’l human rights obligations
- We will continue to engage with int’l partners to uphold int’l human rights law, without any discrimination: FO
ISLAMABAD: In response to statements on recent verdicts by military courts, the Foreign Office on Tuesday reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to fulfilling all its international human rights obligations, saying the verdicts had been made under a law enacted by the Parliament of Pakistan.
“Pakistan’s legal system is consistent with international human rights law including provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),” the FO Spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
The spokesperson added that the country’s legal system had remedies of judicial review by the superior courts and guaranteed the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The statement added that Pakistan believed in constructive and productive dialogue to promote principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
“We remain fully committed to implementing our commitments under the GSP Plus Scheme and core international human rights conventions,” the spokesperson said, adding “We will continue to engage with our international partners including the European Union to uphold the international human rights law, without any discrimination and double standards”.
EU, UK and US concerns over sentencing of 25 by military courts
The FO statement comes day after the European Union, the UK and the United States raised concerns over the recent sentencing of 25 civilians by military courts for their involvement in the nationwide May 9 riots last year.
The series of concerns come after a military court last week sentenced 25 PTI activists to imprisonment ranging from two to 10 years for their involvement in the May 9, 2023 riots, which broke out following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan.
While the PTI “rejected” the sentences, lawyers had also questioned the proceedings and the “disproportionately high conviction rate”.
In a post on X today, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: “The United States is concerned by the sentencing of Pakistani civilians in a military tribunal and calls upon Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process.” His post echoed a State Department statement released yesterday, which expressed “deep concern” over the military court verdicts.
The statement came just hours after the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) had echoed the same reservations.
“While the UK respects Pakistan’s sovereignty over its own legal proceedings, trying civilians in military courts lacks transparency, independent scrutiny and undermines the right to a fair trial. We call on the Government of Pakistan to uphold its obligations under the [ICCPR],” the FCDO statement said.
A day after the sentences were announced, an EU spokesperson had also described the verdicts as “being inconsistent with the obligations that Pakistan has undertaken under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)”.
The EU spokesperson recalled that under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), beneficiary countries, including Pakistan, have voluntarily agreed to implement effectively 27 international core conventions, including the ICCPR, in order to continue benefitting from GSP+ status.
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