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.

Musharraf’s rapid fall from power demonstrates the bankruptcy of the Bush administration’s policy of advocating liberty while supporting autocracy. As we have stated, the real struggle today is not between democracy and terror, but between those who support expansion of democratic and human rights and those who seek to infringe upon them. 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 the most fundamental democratic rights. Both Administrations also refused to respect judicial independence, accepting the removal and incarceration of over half of Pakistan’s legitimate judges. In the face of popular opposition that even potentially rigged elections could not conceal, the Musharraf presidency was finally –and fortunately — doomed to failure.

President Bush often claims liberty is the birthright and natural desire of all people. Had he really believed his rhetoric, however, he would have supported the heroic lawyers of Pakistan in their demands, rather than the now-deposed and discredited Musharraf.

The Lawyers Movement has represented the legal profession at its best. We stand with it and share the joy of its triumph. While Pakistan’s future remains far from certain, it has taken an enormous step forward

League-N were ended in failure on Tuesday. Muslim League-N delegation is returning home in a flight at 3:00 pm from Dubai after the failure of talks.
According to the sources the leaders of Muslim League-N have told their PPP coalition partners that they could announce about quitting the ministries tomorrow evening. The final decision however will be made and announced by the party chief Mian Nawaz Sharif in a policy statement.”

While it is unclear what role the government has played in the Youtube ban, allegations are stirring that the ban is in response to videos of election rigging that have recently surfaced. Some sources report that the ban has come directly from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, though this report has yet to be verified. The source references an appeal from Micronet Broadband for users to write to Youtube and request that the “offending” videos be removed.

The videos [linked below] depict election officials distributing multiple ballots to each MQM party member—all verified with a single individual’s fingerprint. MQM is a Sindhi party and part of President Musharaff’s dwindling support base.A Youtube ban only adds to concerns about significant restraints on press freedom, imposed in the wake of the November 3 declaration of emergency rule, that have yet to be lifted.

• Evidence of Vote Rigging Video

Their detention, since November 3, 2007, is in violation of Pakistani and International law.
The detention of the Chief Justice is in violation of basic due process principles embodied in Articles 9 and 10 of the Pakistani Constitution. As highlighted in a recent Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Briefing Paper:

The government has never issued a detention order for the Chief Justice. In the absence of a valid detention order, any detained person must be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of his or her arrest.¹ The detention of the Chief Justice and his family is unconstitutional because the government has deprived the family of liberty without acting “in accordance with law.”²

The detention orders for Ahsan, Kurd and Mehmood are invalid on two grounds: failure to allege specific facts justifying detention and vagueness.

For detention orders to be valid under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance of 1960, they must allege specific facts justifying the conclusion that the detainee is a threat to “the maintenance of public order.”³ Instead of alleging specific facts, the orders contain conclusory statements claiming, for example, that the detainees are involved in activities challenging the writ of the government, have designs to create law and order situations, and will make inflammatory speeches that will promote hatred. A detention order cannot stand on such conclusory allegations without specific facts to support them.

Furthermore, under Pakistani law, detention orders must “not be vague and indefinite” so as to allows a detainee “to make representation against his detention…”⁴ The detention orders against Ahsan, Kurd and Mehmood fail to cite any specific acts by the detainees or to adduce any evidence justifying their detention. As such, the detention orders-and the physical detention-of Ahsan, Kurd, and Mehmood are unconstitutional.
The detention of Chaudry, Ahsan, Kurd and Mehmood are also in contravention of customary international law as established by The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR guarantees that “[n]o one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest [or] detention.”⁵ The arrest and detention of Chaudry, Ahsan, Kurd and Mehmood are arbitrary under, and thus violative of, the UDHR because they are in clear violation of Pakistani law
Pakistan Justice Coalition echoes LUMS’ call for the government of Pakistan to end its policy of arbitrary arrest and detention and for the government to respect the fundamental rights of free expression, peaceful assembly and movement.
Pakistan Justice Coalition further calls on international human rights organizations to declare the detainees political prisoners and to vehemently call for their release.

The report is co-authored by members of a delegation from the United States National Lawyers Guild and is the result of a ten-day fact-finding visit to Pakistan to assess the status of the judiciary and the prospect for fair elections in light of recent attacks on judicial independence. The report criticizes U.S. foreign policy in Pakistan, concluding 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.

The report also concludes that the upcoming elections are unlikely to meet international standards due to widespread systemic and structural problems, including pre-poll abuses and the failure to enforce existing election regulations. Additionally, the report addresses press freedom in Pakistan, noting that severe restrictions faced by all media, in particular the Urdu-language press, constitute a “serious threat” to Pakistan’s democratic development.

“The independence of the judiciary is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy. The United States’ support for a dictator and its failure to demand the reinstatement of the deposed judges is critically damaging demcratic development and threatening regional safety and security,” stated Rule of Law Project Director Devin Theriot-Orr.

David Gespass, the Vice President of the National Lawyers Guild and the leader of the delegation, stated that “We intend to share the report with the American people and place it before our elected representatives to help effect a drastic change in U.S. policy towards Pakistan that emphasizes human rights and democracy as the only real means of reducing the threat of terrorism.”

One respondent, Justice Azmat Saeed of the Lahore High Court, who refused to take the PCO oath, stated that Musharraf said to the U.S.A., I can’t fight the war on terrorism with a free press and an independent judiciary. But you cannot fight terrorism with state terrorism.

Pakistan has become a state where there are suicide bombings going on, where no one is safe. We have now lost more Pakistani soldiers than Americans have lost in Iraq, noted Imran Khan, leader of the Tehreek-e-Insaaf party. If you assess the policy now, it has been a disaster for the U.S., and it’s now become an even bigger disaster for Pakistan. And there’s no end in sight. Radicalism and extremism are growing by the day. This is now a monster that could actually destroy our country, concluded Khan.

Syed Mudasser Ameer, a barrister and a member of the executive committee of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association Action Committee, expressed a common view that when we used to talk about America, it was just another word for freedom. But the United States continued support for Musharraf has changed his views. Now, we say it would be better if we were still ruled by Britain, because there would still be rule of law, stated Ameer.

Professors Roger Normand and Justice (ret’d) Jawwad Khawaja of LUMS established the Rule of Law Project to serve as an academic clearinghouse for documentation and research regarding constitutionalism and the rule of law in Pakistan. The Project is developing a comprehensive report on the impacts of the PCO and seeking information from all lawyers and members of civil society who were arrested, detained, or mistreated following the PCO.

Project will assess the legal and policy impacts of General Musharraf’s 3 November Provision Constitutional Order, the removal of over 60 appellate judges and the police actions against lawyers and other members of civil society.

• Establish partnerships with bar associations and civil society groups to share information and research results in a transparent and cooperative manner.
• Compile lists and data on those detained and charged under the Emergency, the manner of such detention, the nature of such charges, the ongoing legal process.
• Develop a questionnaire to standardize data collection, train student teams to interview a large sample of detainees to support a comprehensive assessment. * Prepare detailed case studies to highlight individual cases of mistreatment and abuse.
• Analyze the changes in laws and modes of enforcement under the Emergency, assess the impact of these changes.
• Place crisis in context of Pakistan’s constitutional history, longstanding subordination of judicial independence to executive authority, and ongoing challenges for rule of law.
• Disseminate the findings and recommendations to domestic and international audiences.