Pakistan, July 18 -- The European Commission's latest GSP+ report has revived a familiar debate. The question is not whether Pakistan should continue improving its human rights record. That is an obligation every state owes to its own citizens. The real issue is whether the same standards are applied everywhere, or whether human rights have increasingly become a tool of political convenience.

Across much of the developing world, especially in Muslim-majority countries, many now view human rights reports with growing scepticism. Time and again, the same countries appear in the spotlight, the same allegations are repeated, and the same conclusions are drawn. Meanwhile, equally serious concerns elsewhere often receive far less attention. Th...