EU resolution, Economic condition and Death penalty
After defeated in ICJ in Kulbhushan Jadav case, a resolution has been passed by the European Parliament against the execution of convicted persons in Pakistan, and India is being seen as instigator of the move to execute Jadav.
On 14th June, the European Parliament had expressed ‘deep concern’ over the ‘alarming rate of executions’ based on ‘flawed trials’ in Pakistan, and strongly called on the government to restore the moratorium on the death penalty, “with the longer-term objective of full abolition of the death penalty.” The EP resolution also mentioned Jadhav’s case and said he was convicted by a military court in April 2017 and sentenced to death and the case was currently before the ICJ on the grounds that he was denied consular access rights.
Meanwhile, Pakistan ratified a number of international human rights treaties – including the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – to qualify for its GSP Plus status, a preferential trade status that had seen Pakistan’s exports rise by 22 per cent to 5.5 billion euros in 2014, making it one of the largest countries to reap benefits from the GSP Plus status granted to it.
The Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP, is a preferential tariff system which provides for a formal system of exemption from the more general rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Specifically, it's a system of exemption from the most favored nation principle (MFN) that obliges WTO member countries to treat the imports of all other WTO member countries no worse than they treat the imports of their "most favored" trading partner. In essence, MFN requires WTO member countries to treat imports coming from all other WTO member countries equally, that is, by imposing equal tariffs on them, etc.
GSP exempts WTO member countries from MFN for the purpose of lowering tariffs for the least developed countries, without also lowering tariffs for rich countries.
In fact, Pakistani exports under the GSP Plus scheme increased to 6.2 billion euros from January to December 2016.
The resolution stated that “the granting of GSP Plus status is conditional and that the effective implementation of international conventions is an essential requirement under the scheme.”
Failing to comply with these requirements can put these economic advantages at risk, and deprive Pakistan’s business community of lucrative trading opportunities. This is also notable that Pakistan's trade deficit ballooned by 42 per cent year-on-year to an all-time high of $30 billion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year on the back of falling exports and a sharp increase in the import bill . The high deficit came weeks after the government claimed that it has turned around the economy by achieving 5.3 per cent GDP growth.
Pakistan has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) in August 2010. Pakistan has already ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 2008, which commits its parties to work toward the granting of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) to individuals, including labour rights and rights to health, education, and an adequate standard of living.