The long march is not about the person of Iftikhar Chaudhry or Nawaz Sharif. It is a march against the status quo and must succeed in order to usher in the much-needed change in the constitutional structure, political culture and social ethos of this country, without which Pakistan will be unable to sustain a moderate society or prosper as a democratic polity. The defiance of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on March 9, 2007, only ignited fires of resentment against the ruling elite for sustaining a justice system that denies the ordinary citizen access to justice. He might not have had an irreproachable past, but his perseverance and his dogged resolve to fight an illegal and unconstitutional act has given this country an opportunity to rally behind a cause that promises a better collective future for all of us. Likewise, Nawaz Sharif might be culpable for meting out highhanded treatment to the judiciary during his last stint in power. But how does that
equate the PML-N with the PPP at this time, when the former is standing on the right side of principle seeking to change a fundamental cause of our misfortunes, while the latter has emerged as the intractable obstacle to such change?

This change being sought by the rule of law movement is imperative for five fundamental reasons. One, the Constitution of Pakistan needs to be reverted to its original sustainable form. General Musharraf vandalized the Constitution for a second time on Nov 3, 2007. On that fateful day the General had bestowed on himself the power to single-handedly inscribe changes into our fundamental law, and in exercise of such self-proclaimed power, disbanded the judicature, set-up a new High Court in Islamabad, validated all his illegal actions and gave himself immunity against charges of treason etc. The new Dogar Court that he constituted ‘validated’ his unconstitutional actions in the Tikka Iqbal Mohammed Khan case. While the general’s illegal acts outraged this nation and triggered a chain of events that led to his regime’s demise, this country continues to function under the presumption that his actions of Nov 3 were legal and the changes introduced by him are
a valid part of our Constitution. The Constitution thus needs to be cleansed of the general’s adulterous acts, which cannot happen so long as we continue to live with a Dogar Court complicit in the general’s treacherous scheme.

Two, the constitutional structure of separation of powers and checks and balances needs to be given effect. The fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed to the citizens are never self-implementing. An independent judiciary is the enforcement arm of the Constitution. So long as the judiciary remains subservient to the executive and continues to function as an extension of the ruling elite, one can scribble in all kinds of sensible provisions in the Constitution but they will amount to naught. Without a judiciary that has the ability, resolve and reputation of being a neutral arbiter of justice and conscientiously adjudicates the relationship between the institutions of the state on the one hand and between the citizens and the state on the other in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, rule of law will not amount to anything more than the rule of the powerful. If we allow the Zardari-led PPP to stuff courts with perfidious quacks
- as obvious from the recent judicial appointments made with the consent and collusion of the Dogar Court – overtime the gap between the law produced by our courts and demands of justice will become so wide that the notion of rule of law in Pakistan will itself become farcical.

Three, we need a constitutional and legal structure that sustains a level-playing field in the political realm. The leaders of the PPP and the PML-N both have tainted pasts, and this nation has not been vying for a return to the kind of corrupt and ineffectual representative governance that these parties punished the country with in the 1990s. The charter of democracy had brought along the hope that our mainstream parties had learnt from their past mistakes, agreed to let bygones be bygones, compete fairly within the political arena, and move forward with a clean slate. The NRO, however, was the first infraction. The PPP leadership got into bed with Musharraf who wiped clean its past sins through an unscrupulous and shameful edict. This left the Sharif’s out in a lurch, with the swords of Damocles hanging over their heads.

The Zadari-led PPP went back to the dirty political games of the 1990s once it decided to abuse the instrument of the law to cut the Sharifs to size by getting them declared ineligible for public office. If the Sharifs have a blemished past, so does Zardari – and one that is much murkier. Probably all our politicos will be rendered ineligible to hold elected public office if we strictly enforce the qualification requirements for such office enshrined in our Constitution. Our nation has thus been willing to give politicians with tainted past another chance, frankly, for want of options (as there is no short-cut to democracy) but with the hope that they will be willing to reform themselves and their sordid ways. Thus, if democracy is to have a chance in this country, we cannot allow one political party to establish a stranglehold over our skewed legal and judicial structures to entrench itself in power and outlaw the opposition.

Four, we need to reform our democracy and system of governance to ensure that the policies and actions of elected representatives reflect popular public opinion. Khaki saviours still have a controlling role in Pakistan in this day and age because there isn’t much distinction between the style and system of governance that subsists under military dictatorships as opposed to that practiced by civilian autocracies voted in during democratic times. The rule of law movement has sustained itself for two gruelling years and the ideal of constitutionalism that it is struggling for resonates with ordinary people. All opinion polls conducted in Pakistan since Nov 3, 2007, establish that an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis supports the restitution of the Nov 3 judiciary. And yet we have a popularly elected party in government that has willingly inherited the abhorrent policies and tactics of the dictator it replaced and refuses to give effect to the unmistakable
will of the nation it claims to represent. If the growing gap between the popular will of the nation and the narrow self-promotional policies of our ruling elite is not bridged, the continuation of civilian autocracy in democratic garb will end up discrediting the desire for democracy itself in this country.

And five, we need to re-instil morality and ethics in public life. Over the last year we have witnessed a free fall in the standards of morality exhibited by holders of public office. To err is human, but to gloat over deliberate wrongdoing and use deceit as a favoured political tactic cannot be acceptable. A representative government that introduces a code of conduct for public life that celebrates and rewards indiscretions, corruption and malice cannot be a harbinger of hope for the future of democracy or rule of law in this country. If we accept Mr Zardari’s broken promises, his refusal to honour binding commitments, and his choice of lackeys smeared in scandal for elevation to revered public offices, it will not be too long before all sensible distinctions between right and wrong in public life get wiped away.

Now we are essentially being told that our perverted ‘ground realities’ have become so entrenched that in order to preserve order and peace in the society we should compromise the principle underlying the rule of law movement instead of changing the ugly reality. This must not happen. If we sacrifice principle on the altar of expediency at this critical juncture, we might not get another opportunity to redeem the soul and spirit of this nation through a peaceful mass movement led by the educated middle class of this country.

Email: sattar@post.harvard.edu

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Babar Sattar
+ 92-321-5171197
sattar@post.harvard.edu

In an effort to subvert the Long March, the Pakistani Government has passed emergency legislation to ban democratic dissent, issued detention orders for leaders of the lawyers’ movement and preemptively arrested several hundred opposition political party members and lawyers. Following the imposition of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, persons may be detained up to three months without charge for asserting their constitutional right to free speech and political assembly.

The ROLI demands the immediate release of all persons arrested and/or placed under house arrest, an end to all preemptive house raids and arrests and the withdrawal of all detention orders issued for the leaders of the lawyers’ movement. Further, the ROLI demands the withdrawal of Section 144 and all other restrictions, which unconstitutionally prohibit free speech and political assembly.

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The Rule of Law Institute (ROLI) aims to defend constitutional democracy wherever around the globe its components are threatened. Democratic societies must respect — and ROLI will promote — principles of separated & balanced powers among government authorities, judicial independence, free and open media, and individual rights consistent with international norms. ROLI also promotes economic opportunity for all and universal access to basic needs including shelter, food, health care and education.

Our organization takes particular interest in countries where the international community has inhibited these principles. ROLI addresses each issue in a variety of ways, including: policy and legal analysis, private diplomacy, investigative & fact-finding delegations, and public education efforts.

This National Conference having deliberated upon the need for the restoration of the independent judiciary in the country and for that purpose it was necessary to undertake a peaceful and non-violent Long March to Islamabad and then to peacefully undertake a sit-in (Dharna) in front of the Parliament House, adopts the following resolution:

WHEREAS: This Conference is of the view that the actions taken by the General Musharaf on November 03, 2007 were wholly illegal, malafide and unconstitutional and therefore cannot be sustained;

AND WHEREAS: The action of November 03, 2007 ought to have been reversed by executive action and all their effects ought to have been purged immediately after General Elections of February 18, 2008 but was not done;

AND WHEREAS: The martyred leader of Pakistan Peoples’ Party Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto had promised a Long March to ensure the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry and his independent colleagues; while Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, the Co-chairman Pakistan Peoples’ Party has thrice through formally written and signed declarations, promised the restoration of the judges to the position that prevailed on November 02, 2007; but these promises have not been kept by the Federal Government;

AND WHEREAS: The people of Pakistan demand for an independent judiciary so that the nation may attain stability, prosper, progress economically and develop into one of the leading states in the comity of nations, as an independent judiciary is the most essential element to ensure the sustenance and stability of the democratic order, to ensure economic growth and to attract investment, that will then address the problems of unemployment, inflation, crimes, law and order to make Pakistan a terror-free and peaceful place;

AND WHEREAS: This Conference is of the opinion that after the failure to fulfill its promises the Government has left the nation with no option whatsoever but to take recourse to a peaceful and non-violent Long March and Dharna as proposed by the Lawyers of Pakistan;

AND WHEREAS: The Conference has taken note of the unconstitutional steps taken by the Federal Government in imposing Governor’s Rule in the Punjab and ousting the government of a Party that continues to display that it has mandate of the people of the Punjab. The Conference is aware that this illegal step has been taken to attempt to subvert the Long March and Dharna but has resulted in such a designed turmoil in the Punjab Police that resulted in the security lapse resulting in the tragic attack on Sri Lankan Cricketers in Lahore. Had the malafide transfers not been made, and had the Punjab government not been ousted this tragic incident would have been prevented.

NOW THEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED THAT:

This Conference calls upon the entire nation to participate wholeheartedly in the Long March scheduled to start from Quetta and Karachi on March 12, 2009 so as to reach Islamabad on March 16, 2009 and there to stage a peaceful and non-violent Dharna (sit-in) until the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry and his colleagues judges are restored to the offices they held on 02 November, 2007.

SUPPORT THE RULE OF LAW AND THE LAWYERS OF PAKISTAN ON MONDAY – 01/26/09!

WHAT:         Pervez Musharraf Lecture (World Affairs Council)

WHEN:         Monday January 26, 2009

WHERE:      The Franklin Institute, 222 North 20th Street Philadelphia, PA

TIME:           5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

CONTACT: pakistanjusticecoalition@gmail.com

Please join the Pakistan Justice Coalition and the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild on Monday January 26, 2009, to reiterate the significance of the rule of law and human rights over repression and autocratic rule.  As lawyers we have a professional and ethical responsibility to confront violations of the rule of law no matter where they occur.

See: Philadelphia Bar Association’s Statement; Pennsylvania Bar Association’s President’s Statement; American Bar Association’s President Neukom’s Statement; Defending Dictatorship: U.S. Foreign Policy and Pakistan’s Struggle for Democracy.

The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia has invited, Pervez Musharraf, former military dictator of Pakistan “to address the prospects for peace and the formidable challenges of diplomacy in South Asia.”  It is ironic that a former military dictator has been invited to lecture on the subject of democracy and the prospect of peace when his rule resulted in Pakistan becoming, as President Clinton declared, “the most dangerous country in the world.”

The Bush Administration supported the Musharraf regime on the grounds that it was an ally in the so-called “war on terrorism” and overlooked its violations of fundamental democratic rights.  However, the true battle being waged today is not between democracy and “terrorism.” Rather, it is the battle between advancing the values of democracy, rule of law and human rights, on the one hand, and repression and autocratic rule on the other. The way to combat extremism and the repressive rule to which it aspires is by supporting the expansion, rather than the contraction, of human rights.

Background Information:

On November 3, 2007, the President, in his capacity as Chief of Army Staff, declared an emergency and issued a Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) and suspended the constitution. Musharraf ordered the arrest and detention of twelve (12) of seventeen (17) Supreme Court Justices, sixty (60) Senior Judges and several thousand lawyers, journalists, and civil society members throughout Pakistan.  Further, the (PCO) suspended fundamental rights guaranteed by Pakistan’s Constitution such as freedom of movement, assembly, association, speech and property rights.  In response bar associations all over the world condemned Musharraf’s actions.  The Philadelphia Bar Association stated, “We condemn the actions of the President of Pakistan, who has taken it upon himself to violently attack the lawyers and judges as he systematically shuts down his nation’s lawful institutions of justice. That he does this in the name of fighting terrorism is horrible in the extreme. Institutions of democracy should never be victims of fear. It is precisely this strength of democracy that guarantees that a just society may continue, especially in troubled times.”  On August 18, 2008, in order to avoid impeachment proceedings, Musharraf resigned as Pakistan’s President.

Musharraf’s rule at a glance:

• General Perevz Musharraf came to power in 1999 through a military coup;
• Musharraf held the post of President and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in violation of Pakistan’s Constitution;
• Post 9-11, Pakistan received $11 billion dollars in direct U.S. aid for fighting terrorism, funds that Musharraf diverted in efforts to retain his support within the military and upgrade weapons to be used against India while terrorism related violence increased;
• Pakistan’s intelligence agencies detained hundreds of persons without providing them any procedural due process protections pursuant to Pakistan’s Constitution.  Over six hundred persons are still missing in Pakistan;
• Journalists and press outlets faced state censorship, repressive policies imposed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), direct and indirect threats to media institutions and individual journalists, loss of advertising revenues, revocation of broadcasting licenses and, most insidiously self-censorship;
• Journalists working along the Afghan border alleged that Musharraf’s government engaged in direct support of militants by providing arms, ammunition and supplies;
• Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) admitted that they led the effort to manipulate Pakistan’s national election in 2002 and offered to drop corruption cases against candidates who would back President Musharraf and Musharraf issued a series of executive decrees to bar political party leaders from contesting the polls;
• A historically unprecedented number of national and provincial seats went to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six religious fundamentalist (Pro-Taliban) parties;
• In 2006, Musharraf reached an agreement with tribal leaders along the Afghan border in Balochistan entailing the withdrawal of Pakistan’s military from the tribal areas in exchange for self-policing by tribal leaders. A  2007 NIE revealed that, after having been displaced from Afghanistan by the NATO invasion following 9-11, al-Qaeda had reconstituted its network and expanded its original capabilities in Pakistan;
• Nuclear proliferation by Pakistani authorities remains uninvestigated. In 2004, nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, whose work establishing Pakistan as a nuclear state won him acclaim as a national hero, admitted to running an international technology smuggling operation which provided nuclear weapons technology to Libya, Iran, and North Korea. Despite his initial arrest, he was eventually pardoned by Musharraf and has yet to be produced for debriefing by international investigators despite demands by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Swedish Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission; and
• Prior to his 1999 military coup, Musharraf led Pakistan in an armed conflict with India in the Kargil region in northern Kashmir.  The Pakistani military fought alongside armed militant insurgents such as Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Six years after it promulgated its 2002 Police Order governing the functioning of the force, the military government of President Pervez Musharraf had established very few public safety commissions, supposedly
the cornerstone of the accountability process, and those that existed lacked enforcement mechanisms. The police remained political pawns, with transfers and promotions used to reward those willing to follow illegal
orders and to punish the few officers who dared to challenge their military masters. As an institution, it was widely distrusted and disliked by citizens.

Police reform should be high on the agenda of the democratically-elected governments that have now taken power at the centre and the provinces. Unlike the military did for years, they cannot afford to ignore the
demands of constituents for safety and security.

“Political appointments must end; postings, transfers, recruitment and promotions must be made on merit alone”, says Samina Ahmed, Crisis Group’s South Asia Project Director. “The recommendations of police managerial bodies must be given due weight, and emphasis placed on the police serving and protecting citizens”.

The international community, particularly the U.S. and the European Union, should realise that helping the police and civilian intelligence agencies with training and technical assistance would pay
counter-terrorism dividends. The government and its Western allies would be best served by reallocating resources from the military to the police. This means not only more money and the latest weapons and
equipment, but vitally also better training and an end to military dominance and control of internal law enforcement institutions, processes and decision-making.

“The new civilian government has inherited a brutal and corrupt police force”, says Robert Templer, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director. “Reform will be difficult and requires time, patience and resources, but
it is essential to undertake it”.