The Foreign Office assured the international community of fulfilling all its human rights obligations on Tuesday, following concerns over the military sentencing of May 9 suspects.
“Pakistan is fully committed to fulfilling all its international human rights obligations,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in response to a question regarding statements on recent verdicts by military courts.
Over the last two days, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union expressed concerns over the military sentencing of pro-Imran Khan protesters and urged Pakistan to fulfil its commitments under international law.
Washington “is deeply concerned that Pakistani civilians have been sentenced by a military tribunal for their involvement in protests on May 9, 2023,” the US State Department said.
On December 21, the Inter-Services Public Relations announced that the military courts have handed down jail terms to at least 25 people who were involved in the May 9 events.
According to the military’s media wing, the punishments to the 25 accused were sentenced after examining all evidence, affording all legal rights to the accused and completing “due process”.
While issuing names of the suspects, it added that the promulgation of the sentences of the remaining accused would be announced “shortly” as and when the due process is complete.
The FO spokesperson went on to add that Pakistan’s legal system is consistent with international human rights law including provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It has remedies of judicial review by the superior courts and guarantees promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, it added.
Baloch added that the verdicts were made under a law enacted by Parliament and in line with the judgment of the Supreme Court.
The conviction came after the apex court’s constitutional bench conditionally allowed military courts to pronounce reserved verdicts of 85 civilians who were still in custody for their alleged involvement in last year’s May 9 riots.
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“Pakistan believes in constructive and productive dialogue to promote principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” FO spokesperson Baloch said and assured that the country was committed to implementing commitments under the GSP Plus Scheme and core international human rights conventions.
She also pacified the European Union after the bloc’s External Action Service warned Islamabad of the repercussions of the decision on their Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status which allows the South Asian country to enjoy duty-free or minimum duty on exports to the European market.
“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,” Baloch said.
