May 9 riots: US joins UK, EU in voicing concerns over military trials of civilians

After the European Union and the United Kingdom, the United States has also raised concerns over the recent sentencing of 25 civilians by military courts for their involvement in the nationwide May 9 riots last year.

The series of concerns come after a military court last week sentenced 25 PTI activists to imprisonment ranging from two to 10 years for their involvement in the May 9, 2023 riots, which broke out following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan.

While the PTI “rejected” the sentences, lawyers had also questioned the proceedings and the “disproportionately high conviction rate”.

In a post on X today, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: “The United States is concerned by the sentencing of Pakistani civilians in a military tribunal and calls upon Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process.”

His post echoed a State Department statement released yesterday, which expressed “deep concern” over the military court verdicts.

“These military courts lack judicial independence, transparency, and due process guarantees,” the State Department asserted.

Highlighting the right to a fair trial and due process “enshrined in Pakistan’s Constitution”, it called on the government to respect those rights.

The statement came just hours after the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) had echoed the same reservations.

“While the UK respects Pakistan’s sovereignty over its own legal proceedings, trying civilians in military courts lacks transparency, independent scrutiny and undermines the right to a fair trial. We call on the Government of Pakistan to uphold its obligations under the [ICCPR],” the FCDO statement said.

A day after the sentences were announced, an EU spokesperson had also described the verdicts as “being inconsistent with the obligations that Pakistan has undertaken under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)”.

The EU spokesperson recalled that under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), beneficiary countries, including Pakistan, have voluntarily agreed to implement effectively 27 international core conventions, including the ICCPR, in order to continue benefitting from GSP+ status.

The EU is Pakistan’s second-largest trading partner, with the GSP+ arrangement contributing significantly to the growth of bilateral trade with Europe.

There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan’s Foreign Office to either of the statements from Western capitals.

PTI’s reaction

Meanwhile, the PTI — whose activists were among the men sentenced by military courts last week — backed the international community’s apprehensions, calling them “well-founded and justified” and expressing the fear that the move could further isolate Pakistan on the global stage.

In a statement, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram said that the EU’s concerns about the military courts’ decisions were valid, warning that they could affect Pakistan’s GSP-Plus status.

He stressed that Pakistan’s compliance with the ICCPR, which guaranteed due process and fair trials, was integral to its continued participation in the GSP+ scheme.

“The EU spokesperson has also shown concern over the GSP-Plus status of Pakistan, which was achieved after years of hard work, lobbying and ensuring compliance to human rights and other international agreements,” Akram said.

“With such violations, the government is providing an opportunity to the international community to withdraw the GSP-Plus status from Pakistan,” the PTI leader added.

He lamented that in these cases, civilians were deprived of all fundamental legal and constitutional rights and the military courts gave unilateral decisions.

He emphasised that Pakistan’s economic prosperity was inextricably linked to political stability, but regretted that those in power were not bothered about the state’s interests.

Separately, in an open letter from prison, incarcerated PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid termed the military court verdicts a final blow to human rights, adding that the decision was “supported by the 26th amendment constitutional bench”.

In a handwritten letter from Kot Lakhpat Jail, Dr Rashid said the façade of democracy had been shattered. “How long will Pakistan bear these atrocities?” she questioned.

Dr Rashid lamented that justice had become non-existent since Feb 8, 2024. She said she and her party colleagues had been imprisoned for 20 months without conviction as there was no evidence against them.