Pakistan faces loss of EU trade
deal By Syed Fazl-e-Haider
KARACHI - Pakistan has puts its newly
secured trade concessions package with the
European Union in jeopardy by breaking a four-year
moratorium on the death penalty with the execution
of a former army serviceman.
The EU said
last week that it would allow duty-free imports of
75 items from Pakistan for a period of roughly 14
months, ending two-years of talks over the
concessions originally intended to help
the South Asian country
recover from devastating floods in 2010. Under the
deal, the EU may withdraw the trade concessions if
Pakistan fails to meet some human rights
benchmarks, including curtailment of the death
penalty.
The execution on November 15 of
Muhammad Hussain, who was accused of murder, puts
the long-awaited package at risk. The EU is not
willing to take the execution of the soldier,
which was condemned by the 27-nation bloc, as an
exception.
Hussain was found guilty in a
military court of killing his senior officer,
Khadim Hussain, in 2008 when they were on leave.
He was sentenced to death and his petitions for
mercy to the Chief of Army Staff were rejected. He
was hanged last week, the first execution in the
tenure of the present Pakistan People’s Party
government.
The EU has sought all relevant
information and has reiterated that its trade
agreements are tied to human rights conditions
that if violated increases the chances of the
deals being cancelled.
"I deeply regret
the execution of Pakistani soldier, Muhammad
Hussain, on Thursday [November 15] at a jail in
Punjab province," Catherine Ashton, the EU High
Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy, said in a statement condemning the
execution on behalf of the EU, the Express Tribune
reported. "This breaks the de facto moratorium
observed by Pakistan for the past four years and
goes against the global abolitionist trend. It
also undercuts the recent announcement by the
government, raising the possibility of introducing
legislation to abolish the death penalty."
EU embassy officials contended that an
execution is an execution, whether ordered by a
military court or a civilian court, and it
deplored that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfak
Pervez Kiani did not intervene to pardon the
soldier. The EU criticized the Pakistani
authorities for not utilizing all available
options and warned that the worst scenario for
Pak-EU trade relations would be a series of
executions, with the recent one serving as a
precedent.
The International Commission of
Jurists (ICJ) termed the hanging of Hussain a step
backwards for Pakistan.
"What is more
disheartening is that it comes after recent moves
by the government to abolish the death penalty,"
said Sam Zarifi, Asia director of ICJ in a press
release. "The death penalty should not have been
imposed, but when it is, international law
requires that scrupulous effort be taken to ensure
all of the guarantees to a fair trial. A military
court does not provide the minimum guarantees to a
fair trial, notably the right to a fair and public
hearing before an impartial and independent
tribunal established by law."
The trade
concessions deal, which became operational on
November 16, was initially announced by EU after
suffered losses of almost US$11 billion during
2010 floods, which inundated one-fifth of the
country. Last year, floods again damaged the
economy, inflicted a loss of around $2 billion and
damaging 74% of the cotton crop, 26% of the rice
crop and 34% of sugarcane plantations.
The
newly granted autonomous trade preferences package
covers about 27% of Pakistan's trade with the EU
and could be a bridge for securing Generalized
System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status from 2014.
That would allow duty-free access for all goods to
EU markets, though also with human rights and
other conditions attached.
The
flood-related waiver of duty for imports, which
covers fabrics, garments, linen, ethanol and
leather, will be effective until the end of next
year. The deal was delayed by the World Trade
Organization (WTO) and for scrutiny by EU member
states and the European Parliament. The European
Parliament approved the much-awaited deal on
September 13, while the European Council in its
meeting in September 2010 decided to give a
time-bound duty-free access to the country for 75
products. The WTO waiver was originally sought by
the EU for a three-year period.
The
package is expected to create new job
opportunities in Pakistan and boost its export
volumes by 20%. Exports of products under the
duty-free deal are worth $1.4 billion, or about
27% of the country's total exports to the EU.
The EU may also suspend the package if the
country adopts measures restricting human rights
and workers' rights, gender equality or religious
rights or if it provides any kind of support to
terrorist groups.
Syed
Fazl-e-Haider
(http://www.syedfazlehaider.com) is a
development analyst in Pakistan. He is the author
of many books, including The Economic
Development of Balochistan (2004). He can be
contacted at sfazlehaider05@yahoo.com.
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