Geostrategic Media Political Commentary, Analysis, Security, Defense
Dimitra Staikou
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” With these words from the Bhagavad Gita, Robert Oppenheimer recognized the bitter irony of his creation: a promise of progress transformed into an instrument of destruction. Today, something comparable is unfolding with the European Union’s Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+).
Conceived as a moral instrument to link trade advantages with human rights, labor protections, and good governance, GSP+ has, in Pakistan, become an accomplice to authoritarianism. A framework intended to empower civil society has instead been hijacked to fortify repression, silence dissent, and persecute minorities. In practice, what was meant to be a lever for human dignity has morphed into a safety net for those undermining it.
A Tool for Progress Turned into a Shield for Repression
The central question is unavoidable: has GSP+ truly functioned as a lever for change? In Pakistan, the answer is bleak. Despite billions in export privileges, the state has doubled down on oppressive measures. Strict blasphemy laws remain untouched, fueling mob violence and legitimizing discrimination against Christians, Ahmadiyya, and other religious minorities.
Meanwhile, democratic space has narrowed. Surveillance, censorship, and harassment of activists are routine. Far from encouraging reforms, economic cooperation has insulated those in power from meaningful accountability. In short, the EU’s policy—designed to promote dignity—has been repurposed as cover for repression.
Enforced Disappearances and Military Courts
The scars of enforced disappearances in Pakistan run deep. What began during Pervez Musharraf’s military dictatorship continues unabated today, often with the direct involvement of state agencies and intelligence services. Humanitarian groups estimate more than 5,000 missing persons.
The judicial process fares no better. In 2023, nearly 80 civilians were convicted in military courts for participating in riots—an act widely condemned as incompatible with international obligations. The EU itself criticized these practices. Yet no serious reconsideration of GSP+ followed. Brussels condemns in words but enables in practice.
A Digital Panopticon: Surveillance as Statecraft
Pakistan’s violations of human rights extend into the digital sphere, where surveillance has become institutionalized. Amnesty International’s 2024 investigation exposed how Pakistan has built one of the most advanced interception systems in the world—powered not just by Chinese suppliers but also Western technology.
At the heart of this system lies the Lawful Interception Management System (LIMS), capable of monitoring at least 4 million mobile phones, and WMS 2.0, a firewall that can block 2 million internet sessions simultaneously. All four major telecom operators have been ordered to integrate with these systems, giving intelligence agencies unprecedented reach into private lives.
The Islamabad High Court case brought by Bushra Bibi, wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, highlighted the abuse of such tools after her private conversations were leaked online. Intelligence agencies denied involvement, but regulators admitted ordering telecom companies to install interception systems. The hypocrisy was laid bare: the state publicly denied the capacity while quietly deploying it on a mass scale.
In conflict zones like Balochistan, the repression is even harsher. Internet shutdowns are routine, activists are harassed, and speech is criminalized. The Anti-Terrorism Balochistan Amendment Bill 2025 gives sweeping powers to military and intelligence agencies to arrest individuals on suspicion for up to three months, renewable indefinitely. Local rights groups such as Paank, the human rights arm of the Balochistan National Movement, have appealed directly to the EU, insisting it is unconscionable to grant Pakistan economic privileges while it commits systemic abuses.
The Role of Western Technology
Amnesty’s findings raise a disturbing irony: the EU not only sustains Pakistan economically through GSP+ but also indirectly fuels its surveillance regime. The infrastructure relies on Chinese companies like Geedge Networks, but also on equipment from American Niagara Networks, software from French firm Thales DIS, and servers tied to Chinese state-owned IT companies. Earlier versions were linked to Canadian firm Sandvine.
Ben Wagner, a professor of human rights and technology, has warned that such a dual system—intercepting private communications while filtering public internet access—represents a uniquely dangerous model of control. As these technologies become cheaper and easier to deploy, restrictions on freedom of speech will only intensify.
A Mockery of GSP+ Principles
Pakistan currently blocks some 650,000 web links and restricts access to global platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X. It silences political activists while claiming to uphold democratic norms. It detains leaders such as Mahrang Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch, Sibghat Ullah Baloch, and others despite court appearances.
All of this is happening under the EU’s watch, while Pakistan continues to enjoy GSP+ benefits. The program’s credibility has never been under greater strain. A mechanism built to protect minorities and uphold rights is instead financing their repression.
Europe’s Complicity and the Kantian Test
The EU cannot continue to ignore this contradiction. To do so is to violate the very moral principles it claims to uphold. Immanuel Kant’s imperative—treat humanity always as an end, never as a means—is being dramatically violated. In Pakistan, people are treated precisely as means: means to consolidate power, to silence dissent, to preserve the regime.
By granting trade privileges without effective monitoring, Europe risks complicity. It allows an instrument designed for liberation to become a vehicle of oppression. It reassures Islamabad that there is no cost for disregarding international obligations.
A Choice for Europe
The tragedy of GSP+ in Pakistan is not just its failure to deliver progress—it is that it has become a tool of regression. Instead of enabling reform, it sustains repression. Instead of empowering minorities, it strengthens the hand of those who persecute them.
Europe now faces a moral choice. It can continue to speak in the language of principles while underwriting their betrayal. Or it can rediscover the purpose of GSP+: the defense of dignity, the protection of rights, the elevation of humanity over politics.
Anything less is not just hypocrisy. It is betrayal—of Pakistan’s vulnerable communities, of Europe’s founding values, and of the very idea that trade can serve justice rather than subvert it.
Dimitra Staikou is a Greek lawyer, human rights advocate . She works as a journalist writing about human right's violations in South Asia and ctravels to India to get informed about the political situation there and the geopolitcs between India,China ,Pakistan and Bangladesh. She works for Greece's biggest newspaper Skai.gr and Huffpost.Gr as well as international distinguised news sites as Modern Diplomacy and Global Research.
