Summary
President
General Pervaiz Musharraf imposed emergency in Pakistan
on 3 November 2007, promulgated the Provisional
Constitution Order (PCO) and suspended the Constitution,
placing the country under one-man rule. Fifty-five out of
97 judges of the Supreme Court and the four High Courts
refused to take the oath of allegiance under the PCO. On
5 November, thousands of lawyers were brutally beaten and
arrested from the Lahore High Court, when they tried to
protest against the new PCO and the house arrests of the
superior judiciary. Hundreds of human rights activists,
including Ms. Asma Jahangir United Nations Special
Rapporteur on Religious Freedom were put under house
arrest after the proclamation of state of emergency.
The government of Pakistan also issued Pakistan
Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance
which introduced tough changes barring media persons from
criticizing the head of the state, military and
Judiciary, and private television news channels were put
off air.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(UNHCHR) and international community including United
States of America, United Kingdom, France, Afghanistan,
India, European Union, International Federation of
Journalists, as well as the opposition parties in
Pakistan e.g. Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim
League, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf and Awami National Party,
have condemned the imposition of emergency rule in
Pakistan and expressed their anger over the arbitrary
detention of political leaders, senior Judges, lawyers
and human rights activists.
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Sample
Letter
We write with deep concern over the
declaration of Proclamation of Emergency and the
issuance of Provisional Constitutional Order
(PCO) as they have been ruled by the Supreme
Court as unconstitutional. These illegal measures
have, in effect, put the country under martial
law and military dictatorship.
The PCO suspends the fundamental rights of a
citizen guaranteed under the Constitution, such
as right to security of a person, right to be
free from arbitrary arrest and detention, freedom
of movement, assembly, association and speech,
which contradicts your promise to the
international community under the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
We strongly condemn the house arrests of the 55
Supreme Court and High Court judges, hundreds of
political leaders and human rights activists, and
thousands of lawyers and journalists in your
country.
.
For the sake of peace and true development in
your country, we urge you to restore the
constitution, the Judiciary and democratic
process. We strongly urge you to abide by the
rule of law and respect the bounds of the
Constitution of Pakistan, specifically:
• withdraw imposition of Emergency in
Pakistan and the PCO and restore civilian rule
immediately;
• ensure freedom of expression and withdraw
curbs on media imposed through new PEMRA
Ordinance;
• ensure immediate and unconditional release
of all human rights activists, judges and
political workers; and
• confirm the intention of going ahead with
the Assembly elections in January 2008 as
scheduled.
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Background
Implications
of emergency rule
Fundamental Rights:
- Under emergency rule, Pakistan's 1973 constitution has
been suspended. The proclamation says that Pakistan shall
be governed "as nearly as may be" in accordance
with the constitution, but that some fundamental rights
have been suspended notwithstanding.
- According to state media, the rights suspended deal
with: security of the person; safeguards as to arrest and
detention; freedom of movement, assembly, association and
speech; and equality of citizens.
- The suspended constitutional article dealing with
security of the person states: "No person shall be
deprived of life or liberty saves in accordance with
law."
Judiciary:
- The Supreme Court has been hardest hit as it was due to
rule in the next two weeks on the validity of General
Pervaiz Musharraf's controversial victory in presidential
election last month.
- General Musharraf replaced the independent-minded Chief
Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, whom he tried to sack in
March, with pro-government judge Hameed Dogar.
- All other judges were made to swear a fresh oath to
General Musharraf if they wanted to keep their positions.
- The proclamation said that the Supreme Court could not
call the emergency order into question.
- It also said that courts could not issue any judgments
against the president or prime minister.
Government /elections:
- The federal and provincial assemblies remain intact and
are likely to continue until their terms expire on 15
November. Musharraf’s term as president also ends.
After that, the situation is not clear.
- Elections for new assemblies were due in January, but
now General Musharraf can postpone them for a year.
Political Development
The Proclamation of Emergency was issued, stating attacks
on state infrastructure and security agencies as main
reasons. The President has also made allegations against
the judiciary for interfering with the “war against
terrorism” and being responsible for:
- weakening government writ;
- demoralizing police and hampering intelligence
agencies;
- releasing some militants by court orders;
- allowing judges to overstep their authority (e.g.
failure of the Supreme Judicial Counsel to rule over
judges’ overstepping their authority.); and
- humiliating government officials in court.
However, local groups believe that these accusations were
made to justify its imposition of emergency. Moreover,
the civil society questions the legitimacy of the
suspension of the Constitution which is only allowed in
very special circumstances. Although such suspension can
be made through an executive order supported by the
Parliament, it is observed that most of the opposition
party members had resigned in early October 2007, leaving
behind a rubber stamp Parliament.
It is alleged that the emergency rule imposed is linked
to the power stuggle between the President and the
judiciary. Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, Chief Justice of
Pakistan was suspended, in March 2007 on the allegations
of abuse of power. However the Chief Justice denied the
allegations and was supported by lawyers, opposition
parties, civil society and human rights organizations,
which resulted in massive protests all over the country.
The Supreme Court later restored Chief Justice Iftikhar
Mohammad Chaudhary as Chief Justice on 20 July 2007.
The Declaration of Emergency rule came at a time when the
Supreme Court was hearing a crucial case on the
eligibility of General Musharraf (army chief) as the
candidate of President of Pakistan. He had been elected
President in an election but the Supreme Court had stayed
the result of Presidential election until the decision on
his contested eligibility. The Chief Justice and his
colleagues were also hearing cases against government
officials and were perusing the cases of missing people,
allegedly detained by intelligence agencies.
After the declaration of emergency, seven judges of the
Supreme Court overturned the PCO and restrained the Chief
of Army Staff, Corps Commanders, Staff officers and civil
and military officers from acting under PCO.
Arbitrary Detention after PCO
On Sunday, 4 November the police raided the office of
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) at Lahore and
arrested around 54 human rights activists including Dr.
Mubashir Hassan (Former Finance Minister), Mr. I. A.
Rehman (Director HRCP), Mr. Mehboob Ahmed Khan (HRCP),
Ms. Deep, Ms. Saleema Hashmi (veteran painter and
artist), Mr. Irfan Barkat (National Commission of Justice
& Peace), Mr. Nadeem Anthony (AGHS Legal Aid), Ms.
Shahtaj Qizalbash (AGHS Legal Aid), Mr. Iqbal Haider
(Former Law Minister), Mr. Imtiaz Alam (veteran
journalist), Ms. Amna Sharif, Mr. Naseer Bhutta, Ms.
Gulnar and Ms. Iram Afshar. First Information Report
(FIR) was lodged against them for rioting against the
government but they were released on bail on 6 November.
Investigations could not be initiated, reportedly due to
the absence of the public prosecutor from the court.
Further reference:
Full text of the Provisional Constitution Order:
http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20114&Itemid=1
Full text of the Proclamation of Emergency
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7077136.stm
Full text of the Constitution which is suspended:
http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/
Source:
South China Morning Post
Local Source
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