Islamabad, Pakistan The recent sentencing of 25 civilians by a military court in Pakistan drew criticism from the United States on Monday, which said the trials lacked “freedom of independence, transparency, and accountability”.
“The United States is concerned about the sentencing of Pakistani civilians in a military court and calls on Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process,” a State Department spokesman said. Matthew Miller said on Xsocial networking sites.
This American statement follows similar complaints from the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU), which have also questioned the use of military courts to prosecute civilians.
The EU was the first to act on this December 21 verdicts of the military courtand issued a statement the next day expressing “concern” over the ruling and adding that the rulings appeared “inconsistent with Pakistan's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)”.
The EU also highlighted Pakistan's benefits under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), which allows Pakistani goods to enter European markets duty-free – evidence that is seen as a subtle warning of failure to meet international human rights standards. may jeopardize this position.
How has Pakistan punished civilians through military courts, how has Islamabad responded to criticism from the US, UK and EU, and next – Pakistan and its relationship with the West?
What were the crimes of the soldiers?
The current military standards stem from the international unrest that followed May 9 arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad last year.
Supporters of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party targeted government buildings, monuments and military equipment, including the military headquarters in Rawalpindi and the army chief's residence in Lahore, which were set on fire.
Khan was released within 48 hours of the Supreme Court's verdict, but thousands of PTI workers were arrested for the violence.
Of these, 105 were sent to military courts. In April this year, 20 people who were sentenced to less than three years were released, and 85 are still in prison.
On December 21, the military announced that 25 people were guilty, and 14 received 10 years in prison.
The military has defended the charges, saying it followed due process and ensured the defendants had their legal rights.
Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Committee urged the Pakistani government to review the law on military courts and remove their responsibility from civilians.
How has Pakistan responded to criticism of this decision?
Earlier in the week, Pakistan's Foreign Office responded to the EU's comments. Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the government was reviewing the allegations, but said Pakistan's constitution and courts – not foreign bodies – should decide what they want to do politically and legally.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Office issued a detailed statement, insisting that Pakistan's laws “guarantee the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”, and are in line with “international human rights law, including those contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”. . Rights (ICCPR)”.
“We will continue to work with our partners around the world including the European Union to uphold international human rights law, without discrimination and double standards,” he said.
What is GSP+ and how does it relate to military courts?
GSP+ is an EU-led initiative to encourage partner countries to improve their governance and focus on sustainable development by providing them with trade opportunities.
Under the EU's GSP+, mandated countries must comply with and “implement” 27 international treaties – including the ICCPR – in order to continue to benefit from GSP+.
These conferences are non-economic and focus on issues such as human rights, labor rights, the environment and good governance.
Pakistan is one of the eight countries enjoying the benefits of GSP+, the first of which is free access to European markets. Bolivia, Cape Verde, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan are other countries with which the EU cooperates under GSP+.
In its statement on Pakistan's decision, the EU said that under the ICCPR, people have the right to a fair and public trial before an independent and impartial tribunal, represented by an adequate rule of law.
The Pakistani government says its constitution allows civilians to be tried in military courts, which happened even during Imran Khan's tenure as prime minister between 2018 and 2022.
Military trials, however, are often criticized for their secrecy and transparency. Although the accused have the right to legal representation, these courts have no evidence that civilians are being prosecuted.
Haroon Sharif, a former minister of state, has warned that failure to comply with economic sanctions could destroy Pakistan's economy.
“Such agreements are tools for political negotiations. When the country's politics is divided, it affects the economy and creates problems,” he told Al Jazeera.
Can Pakistan's exports take a hit?
The PTI sees the military's charges as part of a two-year long tussle against the party after Khan was ousted from parliament in April 2022.
The former prime minister was also arrested in August 2023 and remains in prison on charges of treason and the May 9 terrorist attack, among many other charges against him. The army denies that it wants to go after the PTI.
Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also questioned the decision to try civilians in military courts, saying the trials gave international organizations a reason to prosecute them.
“The government could have used anti-terrorism or other ordinary courts, to ensure that things are going well.” Military trials, even if they are legal, are against fundamental rights,” he told Al Jazeera.
Former Minister of Finance, Miftah Ismail, said that war crimes are “outdated” and urged the government to engage in negotiations with the US, UK and EU to explain the reasons for using the case.
“The status of GSP + is very difficult, because it allows free access to European markets. Losing this status would reduce Pakistan's exports by 20 to 30 percent,” he told Al Jazeera.
In 2023, EU statistics showed that Pakistan was the biggest beneficiary of GSP+, with more than 78 percent of exports to Europe – worth around 4 billion euros ($4.2bn) – duty-free. Clothing and apparel accounted for 73 percent of exports.
Sharif, who was also the chairman of the Board of Investment in Pakistan (BoI), says that the country's economic managers should realize that the EU countries, as well as the UK and the US have a great influence on the decisions of the International Monetary Fund. (IMF), which is offering Pakistan a bailout-$7bn debt.
“Pakistan is isolating itself by not interacting with the people of the world and their organizations, and this has a lot to do with our political conflicts,” he said.
“The country must reduce the amount of political interference, and it must create a place for itself and experts, and find a way to connect international organizations. Otherwise, failure to do so will lead to market disruption,” said Sharif.