Judiciary row Pakistan’s internal matter: US (as if all other matters are not)

Judiciary row Pakistan’s internal matter: US: Amnesty announces awards for lawyers, judges

Source: Dawn

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, March 5: The White House has said that it will not get involved in the judiciary-executive dispute in Pakistan because it views this as an internal matter of that country.

“That will be a topic that the Pakistanis need to address, not the United States,” said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino when asked if President Bush will use his influence to get the former chief justice released and the judiciary restored to its pre-Nov 3 status.

Ms Perino told a news briefing in Washington that Pakistan already has a parliament elected on Feb 18 and the newly elected leaders “are working on the changes that need to take place” to settle such disputes.

However, at a short distance from the White House, leaders of Pakistan’s lawyers’ movement received a rare honour from Amnesty International for their struggle to restore the rule of law in their country.

Amnesty International gave two awards – one for judges and another for lawyers – at a ceremony also attended by a delegation of lawyers from Pakistan.

“Amnesty International, USA, salutes the judges and lawyers of Pakistan who stood up during the recent state of emergency in defence of an independent judiciary,” said a citation etched on the plaques.

Hamid Khan, former President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, told the gathering that the US should use its influence to get the sacked judges reinstated.

The judges, he said, were sacked because they attempted to restore the independence of judiciary and not because they were releasing terror suspects, as some in the United States believe.

Mr Khan said if the US wanted to stay neutral, it should also stop supporting the Musharraf government.

He noted that while the Bush administration never shies away from expressing its support to the Musharraf government, it refuses to back the cause of the judiciary whenever this issue is raised.
Mr Khan claimed that the Musharraf government was using its influence to break up the PPP-PML-N alliance and bring a government that would agree to work with President Musharraf for the next five years.

“But the Feb 18 elections have shown that the people do not want him,” Mr Khan said. “He should step down in the greater interest of the country.”

The US administration, he said, should not try to prolong President Musharraf’s stay in power and “instead of supporting an individual, it should support the people of Pakistan”.

Sahibzada Anwar Hamid, former vice president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, advised the US administration not to allow the fear of terrorism to prevent it from seeing the changes sweeping through Pakistan.

“If you look closely, you will see that people not only voted against the ruling party; they also voted for an independent judiciary,” he said. He argued that at least in Punjab, political parties benefited from the pro-judiciary sentiments stoked by the lawyers’ movement and if the new government fails to restore the judiciary, they too will become unpopular.

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so many awards for Pakistani Judges and Lawyers: Another one

Source: New York Law Journal & New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)

Annual Award for Distinction in International Law and Affairs presented to the Lawyers and Judges of Pakistan, as represented by Aitzaz Ahsan, in asbentia

Embattled judges and vulnerable children are among the issues to be taken up this week as more than 5,000 lawyers gather at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the annual meeting of the New York State Bar Association.

The International Law and Practice Section tomorrow (Wed. Jan. 29th 2008) gives its annual award for distinction in international law and affairs in absentia to Aitzaz Ahsan, on behalf of the lawyers and judges of Pakistan. Much of that country’s legal and judicial community has been in conflict with Pakistan’s leadership since President Perves Musharraf suspended the constitution and replaced seven of the 11 members of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Ahsan, president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, has been under frequent arrest for his efforts to restore Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as chief justice.

Earlier this month, the New York City Bar Association granted honorary membership to Justice Chaudhry. In November, the city and state bars, as well as the New York County Lawyers’ Association, organized a rally attended by about 700 people at Manhattan Supreme Court in support of Pakistan’s lawyers and judges.

Two leading Pakistani lawyers to receive 3rd Asian Human Rights Defender Award

Source: AHRC

[January 23, 2008] The Board of Directors of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to announce that it has decided to grant its 3rd Asian Human Rights Defender Award jointly to Muneer Malik, former President of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, together with his successor, Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan.

The award is in recognition of the historic leadership role that the lawyers of Pakistan have had in fighting against military dictatorship there during the past year, spearheading the protests against General Pervez Musharraf’s unconstitutional removal and illegal confinement of Chief Justice Iftekhar M. Chaudhary on 9 March 2007.

The lawyers’ movement has attracted interest and immense support of people from all walks of life in Pakistan and the scheme to remove the chief justice was thwarted, although he was again illegally removed from his post, along with 55 other senior judges, including 13 from the Supreme Court, when Musharraf seized power through an unconstitutional declaration of emergency rule at the end of the year.

The lawyers, judges and others of Pakistan have been making great sacrifices to defend the independence of their judiciary as a last bastion against the otherwise unchallenged power of the military. This struggle is continuing today.

The 3rd Asian Human Rights Defenders Award is thus awarded to these two leading lawyers both in recognition of their personal sacrifices as well as to them as representatives of the entire people’s movement against dictatorship in Pakistan.

For his leading role in fighting against the removal of the chief justice and promoting the struggle for an independent judiciary, Muneer Malik was arrested and drugged, causing him to suffer renal failure. He is still recovering today. Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan has been kept under detention since the emergency was imposed on 3 November 2007.

The two lawyers’ leadership, courage and unswerving commitment to their profession, their integrity and their country are strongly symbolic of their cause. In them we acknowledge and award all of the lawyers, judges and others who have refused to bow down to the immoral pressure of military force, including all of those dismissed from their posts and kept in their houses. They stand today as the representatives of civilised society and institutional commonsense in Pakistan, in stark contrast to the barbarism and primitive feudal order represented by Musharraf and his allies.

By making this award we also again emphasise that the international community is obliged to support the people of Pakistan at a time that they are faced with the very real threat of being subjected to the sole authority of a merciless and self-interested executive authority. We call upon others to join with us in open expression of support for these lawyers and their struggle.

ABOUT THE AWARDEES

Muneer A. Malik was President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan from October 2006 to October 2007. He has fought for the independence of the judiciary and independence of the legal profession consistently. When Chief Justice Iftekhar M. Chaudhary was removed unconstitutionally by General Musharraf, he was among the senior lawyers who openly defied the move and led his peers in their struggle to oppose it, which swelled into a massive outpouring of dissent against military dictatorship from people in all quarters and professions. As a result, he was arrested and imprisoned. While held in the notorious Attock Jail under supervision of the ISI, the military intelligence agency, he was given drugs that he was told were painkillers. Thereafter he suffered renal failure. His life was saved only due to massive locally and internationally pressure that led to the authorities acquiescing to the needed medical intervention. He is still undergoing treatment.

For details of his views on the present crisis see: here

Choudhry Aitezaz Ahsan is the serving President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and he too has consistently fought for the independence of judiciary and lawyers. He also led the protests against the attack on the chief justice. He successfully represented the chief justice in the case for his reappointment, despite heavy pressure being brought upon him not to do so. He was put under house arrest together with the senior judges and other lawyers when the emergency was imposed illegally on 3 November 2007 and remains there to this day.

For his views see here