Pakistan has retained its beneficiary status under the European Union's GSP+ trade scheme even as its security forces allegedly fired on peaceful protesters, imposed communication blackouts, conducted mass arrests, and barred journalists from entering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to a detailed report by Stringer Asia.

What the GSP+ Scheme Requires

The GSP+ — formally described by the European Commission as a 'special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance' — grants zero tariffs on a wide range of exports to the European market. In return, beneficiary countries are obligated to implement international conventions covering human rights, labour rights, environmental protection, and good governance. Approved in 2026, the revised arrangement reportedly introduced increased monitoring mechanisms.

Casualties and Crackdown in PoK

According to a member of the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), more than 50 people have been killed and hundreds injured in PoK in recent days after Pakistani forces opened fire on protesters demanding political rights and electoral reform. The precise casualty count is difficult to independently verify: Pakistani authorities imposed an internet and mobile communications blackout, restricted media access, and reportedly removed bodies from hospitals, according to the report.

In a post on social media platform X on Saturday, JAAC member Sardar Umar Nazir Kashmiri stated: 'In the past 4 days, the forces have killed more than 50 of our people through brutal terrorism, and hundreds are injured…' In a separate post, the JAAC reported that late-night protests continued across the Muzaffarabad region, with residents remaining on the streets demanding protection of fundamental rights and fulfilment of commitments made by local authorities.

The EU's Contradictory Position

The Stringer Asia report argues that while Pakistan was allegedly carrying out these actions in PoK, the European Union was simultaneously congratulating itself on renewing a trade system premised on human rights and the rule of law. 'Pakistan remaining a beneficiary of GSP+ demonstrates the difference between what the EU's policy instruments claim to be and what they actually are in reality,' the report noted. It characterised the situation not as an isolated violation but as 'a system' — pointing to a structural gap between the scheme's stated conditions and its enforcement.

Pakistan's Record in PoK and Balochistan

For years, Pakistan has publicly positioned itself as a defender of Kashmiri rights. Critics argue that when residents of PoK raised demands for representative government, economic rights, or an end to electoral manipulation, the response was arrests, information blackouts, anti-terrorism laws, and allegations of foreign interference rather than dialogue.

A similar pattern is documented in Balochistan, where enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, secret proceedings, and collective punishment have reportedly become embedded in governance. On 8 June, several human rights organisations marked Baloch Missing Persons Day — a date designated in 2017 during a central committee meeting of the Baloch Students Organisation (BSO)-Azad — to raise awareness of enforced disappearances and condemn arbitrary detentions, torture, and extrajudicial killings by Pakistani security forces.

What Comes Next

The report raises pointed questions about whether the EU's renewed GSP+ framework has any credible enforcement mechanism, or whether it functions primarily as a trade instrument with human rights conditionality as a nominal qualifier. With protests reportedly continuing in PoK and international scrutiny mounting, pressure on the EU to formally review Pakistan's GSP+ eligibility is likely to intensify.