American Attorneys Should Join the Army of Pakistani Advocates to Defend Justice

By Attorney-at-Law MICHAEL B. TERRY Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore, LLP Atlanta Bar Association (ABA) Secretary and Chair of the Litigation Section

HRF: http://www.JusticeForum.info (InformPress.com Commentary) -

This week the world has been inspired by the courage of an army of lawyers, fighting for the rule of law.These lawyers are fighting not in the stuffy confines of the courtroom with legal arguments and briefs, but on the streets, with fists and stones, for the restoration of the rule of law.

On November 3, 2007, General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan declared a state of Emergency. In addition to imposing sweeping restrictions on opposition parties and the media, Musharraf suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Supreme Court and the four provincial HighCourts, and detained eight members of the Supreme Court. On November5, 2007, thousands of attorneys took to the streets of several Pakistani cities, protesting these actions by Musharraf and demanding the restoration of the rule of law.

This is not the first time that Pakistani attorneys have demonstrated en masse to defend the rule of law. In March of 2007, the suspension,detention and attempted dismissal of the [Pakistan Supreme Court]Chief Justice [Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry] by Musharraf gave rise to large but peaceful demonstrations by attorneys in several cities.

Unfortunately, the government did not allow the November 5demonstrations to remain peaceful. Instead, the demonstrating lawyers were attacked by large numbers of police officers in several cities, demonstrating an orchestrated plan to silence the attorneys. Attorneys were beaten with batons, sprayed with teargas, beaten with fists and arrested by the thousands.Opposition groups estimate that 3500 were arrested on the first day of protests alone. The Musharraf government puts the number at over 2000.

In some locations, the attorneys fought back. Witnesses described fierce battles, with attorneys throwing stones at the police who attempted to break up the protests. But in the end, thousands of beaten and bleeding attorneys were literally dragged to police vans and taken away.

On November 5, 2007, photographs of the bloody clashes between police in riot gear and attorneys in business attire ran in virtually every media outlet in the world. But the demonstrations were not over, nor were the lawyers deterred by the beatings and mass arrests. On November 6, 2007, the suspended Chief Justice of Pakistan urged the attorneys to continue their protests. Again, thousands of lawyers took to the streets. Again, violent clashes with police resulted in several cities. More than 50 attorneys were arrested in a single city on November 6, 2007, adding to the toll from November 5, 2007. By some media estimates, one-fourth of all of Pakistan's lawyers were imprisoned by the end of the day of November 6, 2007. No courts were open for the lawyers to petition for release. But the demonstrations continue.

The courageous stand for the rule of law by Pakistan's lawyers, in the face of physical attacks and arrests, has galvanized opposition to the Musharraf's emergency decrees within Pakistan and around the world.Leaders of many nations have demanded the reinstitution of a constitutional government.

American Bar Association (ABA) President William H. Neukom issued a statement that "the [government's] actions in Pakistan are a threat to the rule of law, and especially to an independent bar and judiciary, everywhere.... An independent bar and judiciary are a cornerstone of all lawful societies. It is essential, at a time when lawyers and the rule of law are under attack in Pakistan, that we work together to respond in a forceful and effective manner."

The impact on society from attacks on an impartial and independent judiciary have long been known. Alexander Hamilton wrote that "the independence of the judges once destroyed, the Constitution is gone,it is a dead letter; it is a vapor which the breath of faction in a moment may dissipate."

Attacks on the impartiality and independence of the judiciary are evident and increasing in this country and this state. That which is required of our bar to address the current threats to judicial impartiality is far less than what the lawyers of Pakistan have faced so bravely. Yet, Hamilton might have been speaking directly to the lawyers of Pakistan when he wrote that "there is no motive which induced me to put my life at hazard through our revolutionary war, that would not now as powerfully operate on me, to put it again in jeopardy in defence of the independence of the judiciary."

The actions of these Pakistani lawyers provoke fundamental questions that every American lawyer should ask of himself or herself: What are you doing to support and bolster the rule of law and the freedom and impartiality of the courts against the current assaults? What would you do if the Constitution were suspended and the courts closed in this [American] nation? Do you have the courage of that bloodied band of Pakistani lawyers? Or, with apologies to Edmund Burke, would you choose to do nothing and let evil prevail?

Altaf Hussain's Another Attack on Pakistan

Altaf Hussain again strikes the foundations of Pakistan’s Federation and provokes ethnic violence through his lengthy venom spitting letter in Pakistani Newspapers.

He utilizes the opportunity after the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto for fulfillment of his real plans of divided Pakistan. He blames the deaths of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto on Rawalipindi (Punjab), but intentionally twist his statement in case of Murtaza Bhutto who was assassinated in Karachi, provoking an ethnic hate against Punjab.

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He gets his letter published in the Pakistani Newspapers addressed only to Sindhis and highlights the point that Muhajirs never killed any Sindhi leader, indirectly blaming Punjabis.

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Altaf claims himself the only son of Sindh who cried on every TV Channel and begged Benazir to be labeled as a Martyred, not killed.

His fake acting was fully exposed on 27th December 2007 when he did 3 interviews in quick succession on Geo, ARY and AAJ TV. As usual, he was calm in the beginning of every interview and started his routine crying and shouting towards the end. After each interview, he popped up on another channel within a minute and repeated the same script, which exposed his overacting to the viewers who were switching between different TV channels at that time.

www.pkpolitics.com

A Poster - Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry

The Future Pakistan Deserves - by Nawaz Sharif

LAHORE, Pakistan -- There is no law and certainly no order in my country. What happened this past week has shaken every Pakistani. Benazir Bhutto was no ordinary person. She served as prime minister twice and had returned to Pakistan in an effort to restore our country to the path of democracy. With her assassination I have lost a friend and a partner in democracy.

It is too early to blame anybody for her death. One thing, however, is beyond any doubt: The country is paying a very heavy price for the many unpardonable actions of one man -- Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf alone is responsible for the chaos in Pakistan. Over the past eight years he has assiduously worked at demolishing institutions, subverting the constitution, dismantling the judiciary and gagging the media. Pakistan today is a military state in which a former prime minister can be gunned down in broad daylight. One of my own political rallies was fired upon the day Benazir Bhutto was killed.

These are the darkest days in Pakistan's history. And such are the wages of dictatorship. There is widespread disillusionment. At all the election rallies I have addressed, people have asked a simple question: Criminals are punished for breaking laws, so why should those who subvert the constitution not be punished? Those who killed Benazir Bhutto are the forces of darkness and authoritarianism. They are the ones who prefer rifles to reason.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and my own Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) have traditionally been political rivals. We fought each other through elections. We won some. We lost some. That is what democracy is all about. Whoever has the majority rules. Bhutto and I both realized while in exile that rivalry among democrats has made the task of manipulation easier for undemocratic forces. We therefore decided not to allow such nefarious games by the establishment.

I fondly remember meeting with Benazir in February 2005. She was kind enough to visit me in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where I lived after Musharraf forced me into exile. We realized that we were fighting for the same thing: democracy. She, too, believed in the rule of law and rule of the people. A key point of the Charter of Democracy that we signed in May 2006 was that everyone should respect the mandate of the people and not allow the establishment to play dirty politics and subvert the will of the people. After the Jeddah meeting we regularly consulted each other on issues of national and international importance. On many occasions we tried to synchronize our strategies. We had agreements and disagreements, but we both wanted to pull Pakistan back from the brink of disaster.

And while the PPP may have been our traditional rival, it is a national asset whose leadership has inspired many Pakistanis. Political parties form part of the basis on which the entire edifice of democracy rests. If our country is to move forward, we need an independent judiciary, a sovereign Parliament and strong political parties that are accountable to the people. Without political parties, there will be hopelessness, and authoritarianism will thrive. Dictators fear the power of the people. That is why they pit parties against each other and then try to destroy those parties -- to further their own agenda. This is what has happened in Pakistan in recent years.

So, what is the way out of the depths to which Pakistan has been plunged? First, Musharraf should go immediately. He is the primary and principal source of discord. Second, a broad-based national unity government should be immediately installed to heal the wounds of this bruised nation. Third, the constitution should be restored to what it was in 1973. The judiciary should be restored to its condition before Nov. 3 -- countering the boneheaded steps Musharraf took under the garb of "emergency" rule. All curbs on the media should be removed. Finally, fair and impartial elections should be held in a friendly and peaceful environment under such a national government so that the people are able to choose their representatives for a Parliament and government that can be trusted to rebuild the country rather than serve the agenda of a dictator.

These are the only steps that will give the country a semblance of stability. If Musharraf rules as he has for the past eight years, then we are doing nothing but waiting for another doomsday.

The world must realize that Musharraf's policies have neither limited nor curbed terrorism. In fact, terrorism is stronger than ever, with far more sinister aspects, and as long as Musharraf remains, there remains the threat of more terror. The people of Pakistan should not be antagonized any further for the sake of one man. It is time for the international community to join hands in support of democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan. The answer to my country's problems is a democratic process that promotes justice, peace, harmony and tolerance and hence can play an effective role in promoting moderation. With dictatorship, there is no future.

The writer is head of the Pakistan Muslim League and was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/31/AR2007123100952.html

Benazir's Last Moments: Dramatic Footage

The fresh video from Channel4.com of the assassination from the reverse angle to what the government officials had released! It clearly shows the shooter walks up to the car, raise the sidearm and shoot thrice or more times at the back of the head and the head slouches rightwards, not leftwards towards the trapdoor handle as it has been claimed. The head was far below the level of the trapdoor handle to be hurt by it from the left on the temporal lobe. See for yourself.