QUETTA, Pakistan– prominent human rights watchdog has called on the European Union to suspend Pakistan’s preferential trade access, citing what it describes as years of widespread abuses in Balochistan that amount to “crimes against humanity.”
The Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) submitted a detailed report this week to the EU’s GSP+ Committee, which oversees the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) program. The scheme allows beneficiary countries tariff-free access to EU markets in exchange for compliance with international human rights and labor standards.
The report, covering incidents from January 2016 through June 2025, alleges that Pakistani security forces have carried out thousands of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and mass displacements across the troubled province.
According to the findings, at least 6,744 people were forcibly taken from their homes — often in front of family members — with many held in secret military detention centers. While 2,559 detainees were eventually released, the HRCB said they bore signs of severe torture. Another 215 were later found dead, their bodies showing evidence of brutal treatment. The report further accuses Pakistani forces of staging 173 “fake encounters” to cover killings and of executing 231 others during military operations.
In some cases, bodies were buried anonymously without identification, with hundreds of human remains uncovered in mass graves. “Public institutions, especially schools and community spaces, have been turned into military camps, disrupting civilian life,” the HRCB wrote, adding that villages along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor were torched or evacuated, displacing tens of thousands.
The report also detailed alleged harassment of Baloch activists, including the targeting of political gatherings, arrests on “bogus charges,” and the public beating of women activists. Students from Balochistan studying in Punjab, Islamabad, and Sindh reportedly face racial profiling, torture, and killings.
The group said Pakistan’s judiciary has largely ignored such cases, while the state-run Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances remains ineffective. No security officials have been prosecuted, the HRCB noted.
As a remedy, the organization urged the EU to revoke Pakistan’s GSP+ status until Islamabad meets “verifiable human rights milestones.” It also called for the creation of independent EU monitoring mechanisms that work directly with victims and civil society groups inside Balochistan.
Additionally, the HRCB pressed the EU to demand Pakistan ratify and enforce the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The EU’s review of Pakistan’s trade privileges comes as rights groups intensify pressure over Islamabad’s handling of dissent and security operations in Balochistan, a province long plagued by separatist unrest and allegations of military abuses. (Source: IANS)
