PAKISTAN ---UPDATES

The Emergency Times

Quote of the Day
“We consider it horrible that people should have their heads cut off, but we have not been taught to see the horror of life - long death which is inflicted upon a whole population by poverty and tyranny.”
-Mark Twain
Chief Justice of Pakistan and Three Prominent Lawyers Declared Political Prisoners
Lahore, Pakistan - In a briefing paper released today, the LUMS Rule of Law Project concludes that the detention of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and advocates Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice (ret'd) Tariq Mehmood and Ali Ahmed Kurd violates Pakistan's constitution as well as customary international law. The report finds that the four are political prisoners and recommends their immediate release.
The briefing paper addresses the factual and legal bases for the detention of each detainee. Ahsan, Mehmood and Kurd have received detention orders purporting to justify their detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. The briefing paper concludes that there is sufficient evidence of mala fide or bad faith, to render each order subject to legal challenge in Pakistan's high courts under Article 199 of the Constitution.
The Chief Justice and his family have been detained in their official residence since November 3, 2007, without any legal processor detention order. The report notes that this detention violates several provisions of the constitution and is therefore entirely unlawful.
"These detentions are particularly troubling because the detainees have been targeted for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs," stated American lawyer Devin Theriot-Orr, director of the Rule of Law Project. "The detainees are in a double-bind because they’re suffering under an unlawful detention and have no forum where they can seek to enforce their rights following Musharraf's removal of the majority of appellate judges in November."
The briefing paper recommends that Pakistan release the detainees immediately and that international human rights organizations and concerned individuals put pressure on the Pakistani government to protect the fundamental rights of Pakistani citizens. The brief also recommends the reinstatement of all deposed judges and the restoration of the constitution to it's status on November 2, 2007.
This paper follows on the Project's release of a report in January entitled Defending Dictatorship: U.S. Foreign Policy and Pakistan's Struggle for Democracy. The report, co-authored by members of a delegation from the United States National Lawyers Guild, concluded that U.S. support for President Musharaff and its failure to demand restoration of the deposed judges will have long-term negative impacts on the judiciary and the rule of law in Pakistan and damage regional safety and security.
Professors Roger Normand and Justice (ret'd) Jawwad Khawaja of LUMS established the Rule of Law Project to serve as an academic clearing house for documentation and research regarding constitutionalism and the rule of law in Pakistan.


The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the refusal of the police to register a complaint and file charges against a provincial minister and his armed men in Punjab province. He allegedly ordered the assault, arrest and detention of six student activists and teachers, two of whom were women, where they were beaten on 2 February 2008 in Lahore City. The city mayor also allegedly defended the minister's actions by threatening the police they would suffer consequence if they filed charges against him. The activists were holding a demonstration and distributing leaflets to supposedly celebrate the release of one of the leaders of the lawyer's movement when attacked. The minister and the mayor are close allies of the Musharraf's government.
CASE DETAILS:
According to details, the lawyers and activists of the civil society had called for a meeting in Nasir Bagh, Lahore City, to celebrate the release of Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, after having been detained for three months. The meeting was scheduled for February 2. However, Mr. Aitzaz was re-arrested two days after his release on January 31. (for details, see: AHRC-STM-034-2008)

On February 1, a day before the said meeting, some of the activists were monitoring the arrangements for the scheduled meeting. They also distributed fliers for the said activity. The place where they were holding the activity is about half a kilometer from Branch Number 7 of the Punjab College, a college where provincial minister, Mr. Sohail Afzal, is also working as principal.

When Mr. Sohail passed through the area he saw that some students and other activists were distributing leaflets containing messages in favour of lawyer's movement. Upon seeing this, Mr. Sohail then ordered one of his armed men, Mr. Nadeem Jaffery, who at the time was carrying a firearm, to deal with the said students and activities by force. Shortly after, Mr. Sohail's men approached the crowd and started beating Mr. Rahim Haque, a lecturer of Sociology at Punjab University who sustained injuries to his ear. After the assault, the students and other activists, who had witnessed the incident, proceeded to the Muslim town police station in order to lodge a complaint against Mr. Sohail's men; however, the police refused to register their complain using the excuse that it was a very minor incident and that it was not necessary to lodge a police report.

On the day that the scheduled meeting was held, February 2, Mr. Sohail's once again saw some student activists and teachers at the same place distributing fliers in honor of Mr. Aitzaz. Some activists were standing and distributing fliers about 300 meters far from the Punjab College. Mr. Sohail once again ordered his armed men to attack the crowd and take some of them inside the college building. Those arrested and taken inside the college building were Mr. Shaheryar, Ms. Saeeda Diep and her car driver Ahmed Ali, Mr. Umair Chaudry, Mr. Rahim Haque and Ms. Halima Mansoor. The attackers then kicked, punched, and threw them to the floor; their heads were smashed against the walls and some of them had their clothes torn off.

Mr. Sohail also instructed his men to kill one of them, Mr. Shaheryar, a student of the Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST) University. Mr. Shaheryar had already collapsed at the time because of the assault and Mr. Sohail's and his staff thought he was dead. Shaheryar suffered injuries to his head. Mr. Rahim suffered a broken nose and injuries to his face and body. Another student, Ms. Halima, was also beaten by the armed men and male teachers.

Mr. Sohail also snatched mobile phones, a camera and national identity cards from all the victims. Ms. Saeeda's purse and the wallets of other victims were also taken. In the meantime, another student, Mr. Usman Gill, the son of an influential person in Punjab province, had come to intervene on behalf of the activists by trying to enter the room where the victims were being held. However, Mr. Usman was himself beaten. He suffered several injuries to his body and was released only after he identified himself to the police by showing them his identity card.

It is distressing to note that although the police did eventually turn up they were too late to prevent the assaults and they quickly took the side of Mr. Sohail without thoroughly investigating the incident. Even though they were then on the scene they failed to take action to prevent Mr. Sohail's men from continuously beating one of the victims, Ms. Saeeda Diep, the chairperson of the Institute of Peace and Secular Studies. She was beaten and verbally abused by Mr. Sohail's men in the presence of the police. She suffered several injuries to her body. Mr. Sohail was also heard to have called one of the students, Ms. Halima, "a prostitute". Mr. Shaheryar was then later taken to the emergency of Sheikh Zayed Hospital by the police where he was treated for his injuries.

Following the release of the activists they proceeded to the Muslim Town police station in order to once again lodge a First Information Report (FIR) against Mr. Sohail. However, for the second time the police refused to register their complaint.

After learning of the assaults of the students, the lawyers and civil society activists went to the Punjab College and gathered outside. When they learned that they were no longer there they went to the Muslim Town Police Station. When they arrived at the police station, Lahore City mayor Mian Aamer, also an owner of school chain was present. Mayor Mian allegedly used his influence and threatened the police that they would face dire consequences if they registered the complaint and filed charges against the minister, Mr. Sohail.

Although Rana Mansoorul Haq, the Muslim Town Superintendent of Police, told the victims and those protesting against the action by Mr. Sohail that they would file charges but the two other policemen, namely Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr. Rana Azeem and Station House officer (SHO), still refused to register the complaint and to subsequent filed charges. To-date the police have not registered any complaint or filed charges against Mr. Sohail and his men.


1. The movement for the restoration of the judiciary is historic, and *will* succeed.
2. Contrary to what a certain thug has been saying, it will *not* require two-thirds majority in both houses for his actions to be undone. They can be reversed by executive order backed up by even a simple majority in parliament.
3. After the elections, the lawyer's movement will give a certain deadline (backed up by civil society) for the new parliament to reverse the unconstitutional orders passed by musharraf. if need be, the entire nation will be asked, at a predetermined date and time, to come out of their houses, offices and factories briefly to show their unity and solidarity with the movement.
4. If the incoming government fails to restore the judiciary within the proposed time period, we will start a peaceful movement for civil disobedience.
5. At no time, not for a moment, must we allow for another dictator to come and replace the current one. Pervez Musharraf is a symptom of the disease - he is not the disease itself. The disease has been the army's string of forays into governance, administration and politics, directly through military coups and indirectly through behind-the-scenes manipulation of political governments through the ISI.
6. This disease has to be eliminated. If today Kayani is asking for army personnel to not meet politicians - he is only doing his job. Do we commend or put on a pedestal every Pakistani for doing what they are supposed to do anyway? Do not give any army chief the room to feel he is anything more than a servant of the state, as the Founder of our Nation told a complaining colonel once.
7. He also urged members of civil society, to look for amongst themselves, people who possess the qualities of sincerity, selflessness, competence, and above all, compassion for the common man, who could become candidates for the future from different political parties. The political process has never been allowed to mature in Pakistan- and the corruption we see in the political arena is also another symptom of the disease - but we must not give up on this process, nor lose sight of the disease behind these symptoms.

Finally, it is important for all of us in civil society to remember and be prepared for the fact that the the restoration of the judiciary is a key facet (but not the sole one) of our fight for the institution of civil rights, freedom, democracy and rule of law. Our battle will be a long and drawn-out one, and we must not lose energy, nor hope, nor focus.


Parliament Watch is an objectively based political candidate review project. It is meant to promote an "informed" voting behavior by creating transparency of the election process. The goal of this project is to help voters choose the right candidates to avoid corruption, nepotism, and undemocratic ideals. It serves as a medium for the public to voice their opinions and help portray the candidates. This project offers objective reviews on candidates based on documentation of the Election Commission of Pakistan, Pakistani media, and publicly available documents and research material. This project contains surveys, polls, and indices that provide statistical data on the candidates.
This project is one of the projects of the Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) by which members have collaborated to provide the people of Pakistan a tool for deciding who to vote for. It is with this project, that the members hope to induce the civil society to create a stronger polity for informed decision making. Parliament Watch focuses on Members of National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan and with further funding will provide more information and reviews of other assemblies that make up the polity of our country.
But you can't leave your office, house or dorm? Or are not in Pakistan?Don't worry, you can still contribute by giving a few minutes of your time by:
- reading about the candidates that interest you, to ensure the information is accurate - giving ratings on a candidate's CDI index
- providing links to his interviews and news articles in the comments section
- typing stuff you hear about a candidate on TV, Radio or from people.
- helping us gather the manifestos of each candidate and the parties.
Our plan is to get enough information on as many candidates as possible and hopefully with the help of sponsors distribute agendas amongst the masses. Even if we get a few cities done, it will be a good start that hopefully we'll be able to improve on once the real judiciary is reinstated.
Remember the website: www.pw.org.pk