He urged the European Union to condition Pakistan’s continued access to GSP+ on verifiable improvements in civil liberties, press freedom, and an end to enforced disappearances.
Brussels [Belgium], November 22, 2025 – BNN Web Staff- The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) held a demonstration outside the European Parliament in Brussels, where Jamil Maqsood, who heads the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP), sharply criticised Pakistan’s deteriorating human rights record and urged the European Union to tighten scrutiny under the GSP+ preferential trade scheme.
The protest was organised to coincide with a meeting between Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and senior EU officials, offering activists an opportunity to draw attention to ongoing rights violations.
In a Facebook post, Maqsood expressed strong support for PTM’s peaceful campaign against enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, illegal detentions, and widespread intimidation targeting the Pashtun population.
He added that these abuses reflect deeper structural issues within Pakistan’s governance system, affecting not only the Pashtun belt but also the regions of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB).
Maqsood also denounced Islamabad’s move to advance the 28th Constitutional Amendment, saying efforts to absorb disputed territories into Pakistan’s constitutional framework violate international law, relevant UN resolutions, and the democratic will of the Kashmiri people.
Reiterating UKPNP’s commitment to democratic rights and peaceful political advocacy, he underlined the need to protect marginalised communities facing militarisation and political suppression.
Addressing the economic angle, Maqsood criticised Pakistan for failing to meet the obligations tied to its GSP+ status. Despite benefiting from the EU programme since 2014, he noted that monitoring reports consistently point to gaps in Pakistan’s adherence to human rights, labour protections, and governance standards.
He urged the European Union to condition Pakistan’s continued access to GSP+ on verifiable improvements in civil liberties, press freedom, and an end to enforced disappearances.
Maqsood further appealed to the European Parliament to act on its 2007 Resolution on Jammu and Kashmir by sending an independent fact-finding delegation to all parts of the divided region.
Such a mission, he said, would help EU lawmakers gain a clearer understanding of the situation on the ground and ensure that human rights recommendations are followed through.
