Lawyers call for a restoration of law and order in Pakistan

system · January 27, 2008, 10:53pm

Re: Lawyers call for a restoration of law and order in Pakistan

Statment by leading lawyers in Times newspaper during the dictators visit to UK.

Lawyers call for a restoration of law and order in Pakistan

Sir, President Musharraf is coming to London this weekend at a time when (despite the lifting of the state of emergency) a number of judges and lawyers who protested are still being detained.
They include the former Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, and the president of the Supreme Court Bar, Aitzaz Ahsan. Former Justice (retired) Rana Bhagwandas was also put under house arrest earlier this month.
Lawyers from around the world have called on the Pakistan authorities to provide effective constitutional protections, lift all restrictions on the judiciary, release the lawyers and judges arbitrarily detained, and allow lawyers to exercise their freedom of expression and assembly.
We wish to stress that Pakistan must re-establish and comply with internationally recognised standards for the rule of law; the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession must be respected in the interests of justice and economic development; the Pakistan Government should cease arresting, detaining and harassing judges and lawyers arbitrarily, and should release those currently detained; fundamental freedoms (eg, of expression and assembly) should be afforded to all citizens, including lawyers and the judiciary.

Andrew Holroyd
President, Law Society of England and Wales

Timothy Dutton, QC
Chairman, Bar Council of England and Wales

Mark Muller, QC
Chair, Bar Human Rights Committee

Michael Ellaman
Chair, Solicitors’ International Human Rights Group

Shams Rahman
Society of Asian Lawyers

Roger Smith
Director, Justice

Jonathan Cooper
Chair, Human Rights Lawyers Association

Ifath Nawaz
Chair, Association of Muslim Lawyers

Shami Chakrabarti
Director, Liberty

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article3247259.ece

Inshallah… Pakistan deserves the rule of law and justice for its people… History shows that God is just, and dictators all go out the same way, as will Mush, dejected, humiliated or put down.

When history speaks of this man, he will be remembered the way all dictators are, as a hypocrite, with no respect for human rights or rule of law…