The Emergency Times 40

The Emergency Times Feb 8th, 2007 1
Please Photocopy and Distribute Issue 40
The Emergency Times
Quote of the Day
“We consider it horrible that people should have their heads cut off, but we have not been
taught to see the horror of life - long death which is inflicted upon a whole population by
poverty and tyranny.”
-Mark Twain
Chief Justice of Pakistan and Three Prominent Lawyers Declared Political Prisoners
Lahore, Pakistan - In a briefing paper released today, the LUMS Rule of Law Project concludes that the detention of Chief Justice
Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and advocates Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice (ret'd) Tariq Mehmood and Ali Ahmed Kurd violates Pakistan's
constitution as well as customary international law. The report finds that the four are political prisoners and recommends their
immediate release.
The briefing paper addresses the factual and legal bases for the detention of each detainee. Ahsan, Mehmood and Kurd have received
detention orders purporting to justify their detention under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. The briefing paper concludes
that there is sufficient evidence of mala fide or bad faith, to render each order subject to legal challenge in Pakistan's high courts under
Article 199 of the Constitution.
The Chief Justice and his family have been detained in their official residence since November 3, 2007, without any legal processor
detention order. The report notes that this detention violates several provisions of the constitution and is therefore entirely unlawful.
"These detentions are particularly troubling because the detainees have been targeted for the peaceful expression of their political
beliefs," stated American lawyer Devin Theriot-Orr, director of the Rule of Law Project. "The detainees are in a double-bind because
they’re suffering under an unlawful detention and have no forum where they can seek to enforce their rights following Musharraf's
removal of the majority of appellate judges in November."
The briefing paper recommends that Pakistan release the detainees immediately and that international human rights organizations and
concerned individuals put pressure on the Pakistani government to protect the fundamental rights of Pakistani citizens. The brief also
recommends the reinstatement of all deposed judges and the restoration of the constitution to it's status on November 2, 2007.
This paper follows on the Project's release of a report in January entitled Defending Dictatorship: U.S. Foreign Policy and Pakistan's
Struggle for Democracy. The report, co-authored by members of a delegation from the United States National Lawyers Guild,
concluded 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.
Professors Roger Normand and Justice (ret'd) Jawwad Khawaja of LUMS established the Rule of Law Project to serve as an academic
clearing house for documentation and research regarding constitutionalism and the rule of law in Pakistan.
CONTACT: Devin Theriot-Orr, LUMS Rule of Law Project, +92(334)428-9694, rlp@riseup.net

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT: http://ruleoflawproject.org/pubs/briefing01.pdf
The Asian Human Rights Commission takes note of the Assault on Student Activists
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the refusal of the police to register a complaint
and file charges against a provincial minister and his armed men in Punjab province. He allegedly ordered the assault, arrest and
detention of six student activists and teachers, two of whom were women, where they were beaten on 2 February 2008 in Lahore City.
The city mayor also allegedly defended the minister's actions by threatening the police they would suffer consequence if they filed
charges against him. The activists were holding a demonstration and distributing leaflets to supposedly celebrate the release of one of
the leaders of the lawyer's movement when attacked. The minister and the mayor are close allies of the Musharraf's government.
CASE DETAILS:
Disclaimer: This publication is not affiliated with or does not endorse any political party or social group.
It is a humble effort to inspire and make aware- for we together can make a difference in these
troubled times.
Write to us at theemergencytimes@gmail.com. Our online version is on
pakistanmartiallaw.blogspot.com
According to details, the lawyers and activists of the civil society had called for a meeting in Nasir Bagh, Lahore City, to celebrate the
release of Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, after having been detained for three months.
The meeting was scheduled for February 2. However, Mr. Aitzaz was re-arrested two days after his release on January 31. (for details,
see: AHRC-STM-034-2008)
On February 1, a day before the said meeting, some of the activists were monitoring the arrangements for the scheduled meeting. They
also distributed fliers for the said activity. The place where they were holding the activity is about half a kilometer from Branch
Number 7 of the Punjab College, a college where provincial minister, Mr. Sohail Afzal, is also working as principal.
When Mr. Sohail passed through the area he saw that some students and other activists were distributing leaflets containing messages
in favour of lawyer's movement. Upon seeing this, Mr. Sohail then ordered one of his armed men, Mr. Nadeem Jaffery, who at the
time was carrying a firearm, to deal with the said students and activities by force. Shortly after, Mr. Sohail's men approached the
crowd and started beating Mr. Rahim Haque, a lecturer of Sociology at Punjab University who sustained injuries to his ear. After the
assault, the students and other activists, who had witnessed the incident, proceeded to the Muslim town police station in order to lodge
a complaint against Mr. Sohail's men; however, the police refused to register their complain using the excuse that it was a very minor
incident and that it was not necessary to lodge a police report.
On the day that the scheduled meeting was held, February 2, Mr. Sohail's once again saw some student activists and teachers at the
same place distributing fliers in honor of Mr. Aitzaz. Some activists were standing and distributing fliers about 300 meters far from the
Punjab College. Mr. Sohail once again ordered his armed men to attack the crowd and take some of them inside the college building.
Those arrested and taken inside the college building were Mr. Shaheryar, Ms. Saeeda Diep and her car driver Ahmed Ali, Mr. Umair
Chaudry, Mr. Rahim Haque and Ms. Halima Mansoor. The attackers then kicked, punched, and threw them to the floor; their heads
were smashed against the walls and some of them had their clothes torn off.
Mr. Sohail also instructed his men to kill one of them, Mr. Shaheryar, a student of the Foundation for Advancement of Science and
Technology (FAST) University. Mr. Shaheryar had already collapsed at the time because of the assault and Mr. Sohail's and his staff
thought he was dead. Shaheryar suffered injuries to his head. Mr. Rahim suffered a broken nose and injuries to his face and body.
Another student, Ms. Halima, was also beaten by the armed men and male teachers.
Mr. Sohail also snatched mobile phones, a camera and national identity cards from all the victims. Ms. Saeeda's purse and the wallets
of other victims were also taken. In the meantime, another student, Mr. Usman Gill, the son of an influential person in Punjab
province, had come to intervene on behalf of the activists by trying to enter the room where the victims were being held. However, Mr.
Usman was himself beaten. He suffered several injuries to his body and was released only after he identified himself to the police by
showing them his identity card.
It is distressing to note that although the police did eventually turn up they were too late to prevent the assaults and they quickly took
the side of Mr. Sohail without thoroughly investigating the incident. Even though they were then on the scene they failed to take action
to prevent Mr. Sohail's men from continuously beating one of the victims, Ms. Saeeda Diep, the chairperson of the Institute of Peace
and Secular Studies. She was beaten and verbally abused by Mr. Sohail's men in the presence of the police. She suffered several
injuries to her body. Mr. Sohail was also heard to have called one of the students, Ms. Halima, "a prostitute". Mr. Shaheryar was then
later taken to the emergency of Sheikh Zayed Hospital by the police where he was treated for his injuries.
Following the release of the activists they proceeded to the Muslim Town police station in order to once again lodge a First
Information Report (FIR) against Mr. Sohail. However, for the second time the police refused to register their complaint.
After learning of the assaults of the students, the lawyers and civil society activists went to the Punjab College and gathered outside.
When they learned that they were no longer there they went to the Muslim Town Police Station. When they arrived at the police
station, Lahore City mayor Mian Aamer, also an owner of school chain was present. Mayor Mian allegedly used his influence and
threatened the police that they would face dire consequences if they registered the complaint and filed charges against the minister,
Mr. Sohail.
Although Rana Mansoorul Haq, the Muslim Town Superintendent of Police, told the victims and those protesting against the action by
troubled times.
Mr. Sohail that they would file charges but the two other policemen, namely Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr. Rana Azeem and
Station House officer (SHO), still refused to register the complaint and to subsequent filed charges. To-date the police have not
registered any complaint or filed charges against Mr. Sohail and his men.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities below for them to intervene into taking the appropriate action against Mr. Sohail Afzal, provincial
minister, and his men, for the assault and subsequent brief detention of the victims. Charges must be filed against him without further
delay. The policemen who had refused in registering the victim's complaint and of subsequently filing charges against those involved
should be also investigated. They must also be held to account for their inaction.
Inspirational Meeting with Justice (R) Wajihuddin

Yesterday some of us had the honour of meeting Justice (Retd) Wajeehuddin, fondly known as the Real President of Pakistan, at
Hamid Zaman's home. We thank Mustafa Ramday - Justice Khalil Ramday's son - for arranging the meeting.
For the benefit of all, I would like to recap some of his comments:
1. The movement for the restoration of the judiciary is historic, and *will* succeed.
2. Contrary to what a certain thug has been saying, it will *not* require two-thirds majority in both houses for his actions to be
undone. They can be reversed by executive order backed up by even a simple majority in parliament.
3. After the elections, the lawyer's movement will give a certain deadline (backed up by civil society) for the new parliament to
reverse the unconstitutional orders passed by musharraf. if need be, the entire nation will be asked, at a predetermined date and time,
to come out of their houses, offices and factories briefly to show their unity and solidarity with the movement.
4. If the incoming government fails to restore the judiciary within the proposed time period, we will start a peaceful movement for
civil disobedience.
5. At no time, not for a moment, must we allow for another dictator to come and replace the current one. Pervez Musharraf is a
symptom of the disease - he is not the disease itself. The disease has been the army's string of forays into governance, administration
and politics, directly through military coups and indirectly through behind-the-scenes manipulation of political governments through
the ISI.
6. This disease has to be eliminated. If today Kayani is asking for army personnel to not meet politicians - he is only doing his job. Do
we commend or put on a pedestal every Pakistani for doing what they are supposed to do anyway? Do not give any army chief the
room to feel he is anything more than a servant of the state, as the Founder of our Nation told a complaining colonel once.
7. He also urged members of civil society, to look for amongst themselves, people who possess the qualities of sincerity, selflessness,
competence, and above all, compassion for the common man, who could become candidates for the future from different political
parties. The political process has never been allowed to mature in Pakistan- and the corruption we see in the political arena is also
another symptom of the disease - but we must not give up on this process, nor lose sight of the disease behind these symptoms.
Finally, it is important for all of us in civil society to remember and be prepared for the fact that the the restoration of the judiciary is a
key facet (but not the sole one) of our fight for the institution of civil rights, freedom, democracy and rule of law. Our battle will be a
long and drawn-out one, and we must not lose energy, nor hope, nor focus.
In Continuing Solidarity,
Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP)
External debt hits$40.322bn in 4 years

(Dawn, February 06, 2008)
By Shahid Iqbal KARACHI, Feb 5: How much the government added to the external debt is much more important than the build-up
of a heap of new record domestic debt, adding a trillion rupees to the total.
The huge external debt, which witnessed an addition of about $7billion to the total of over $40 billion in just four years, is set to start a
troubled times.
vicious cycle of borrowing — servicing — borrowing. The rising bill of external debt-servicing gets more importance in the wake of
widening current account deficit.
This deficit curtails the government’s ability to pay external bills, forcing it to borrow to meet the requirement or sell the assets it has
for yielding foreign exchange. The government has been paying about $3 billion each year as debt-servicing despite rescheduling of
Paris Club consortium debt which has the largest share in the total debt.
The latest figures issued by the State Bank showed that the total external debt reached $40.322 billion from $33.352 billion since
2003-04. The addition of about $6.9 billion in just four years showed that the government borrowed massively to meet its external
payment. This has increased the cost of debt-servicing.
The future government is bound to borrow more to keep itself able to make external payments. This could be the second biggest task
of the future government after de-freezing the petroleum prices. The future government will have to carry out another task to launch
Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) to raise dollars for its increasing demand.
The dollar demand has multiplied after record oil prices which hit $100 per barrel. The slow export growth and high import growth is
another difficult area which demands more dollars. The country’s foreign exchange reserves have stared depleting but still these are
about $15 billion. This will be the toughest task for the future government to maintain reserves and keep the payment system smooth.
The foreign exchange reserves have been a trade mark of success of the previous government. Both the Prime Minister and President
referred the forex reserves as one of the biggest successes in numerous speeches they made in last couple of years. The SBP’s data
showed that the government of Shaukat Aziz went beyond all records of increasing domestic debt which rose by almost one trillion
rupees in five year to make the total as Rs2.7 trillion.
According to the report, the previous government which completed its five-year tenure increased the domestic debt by 58 per cent in
five years. The government broke all records of previous governments to add such huge debt on the back of the weak economy. The
previous government added both the external and domestic debt on such a scale which never happened before.
The caretaker government has followed the same path and has been borrowing at the fastest speed. The State Bank in its monetary
policy criticized huge borrowing from the State Bank. The SBP accused the government of accelerating inflation through huge
borrowing and destroying all efforts of the SBP to control inflation. The government borrowed about Rs237 billion from SBP in six
months.
Myth Busters: Researchers Needed

Project Editor: Syed Saad Rizvi
Contact info: saadmustafa.rizvi@gmail.com
Serious researchers needed.
Educate yourself and the people of Pakistan.
Show the world that the much clamor of economic growth is a fraud.
Stop the blasphemy against the judiciary, friends and civil society.
Help unearth the misuse of state resources and privileges by a few Generals that has destroyed the stature of our once loved Pakistan
army.
Myth busters needs you!
If you are interested in working to expose the lies spread by Musharraf and his PR team please get in touch with the editor.
Parliament Watch
http://pw.org.pk/
Tired of Personality based politics?

Don't want to see the same corrupt politicians getting re-elected again and again and again?
Want to see new faces in these upcoming elections?
Know inside information about a candidate that the world should know?
Want to be part of the struggle for rule of law, democracy and power to the people?
troubled times.
Then Parliament Watch is Just for you
Parliament Watch is an objectively based political candidate review project. It is meant to promote an "informed" voting behavior by
creating transparency of the election process. The goal of this project is to help voters choose the right candidates to avoid corruption,
nepotism, and undemocratic ideals. It serves as a medium for the public to voice their opinions and help portray the candidates. This
project offers objective reviews on candidates based on documentation of the Election Commission of Pakistan, Pakistani media, and
publicly available documents and research material. This project contains surveys, polls, and indices that provide statistical data on the
candidates.
This project is one of the projects of the Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) by which members have collaborated to provide the people
of Pakistan a tool for deciding who to vote for. It is with this project, that the members hope to induce the civil society to create a
stronger polity for informed decision making. Parliament Watch focuses on Members of National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan
and with further funding will provide more information and reviews of other assemblies that make up the polity of our country.
But you can't leave your office, house or dorm? Or are not in Pakistan?Don't worry, you can still contribute by giving a few minutes of
your time by:
- reading about the candidates that interest you, to ensure the information is accurate - giving ratings on a candidate's CDI index
- providing links to his interviews and news articles in the comments section
- typing stuff you hear about a candidate on TV, Radio or from people.
- helping us gather the manifestos of each candidate and the parties.
Our plan is to get enough information on as many candidates as possible and hopefully with the help of sponsors distribute agendas
amongst the masses. Even if we get a few cities done, it will be a good start that hopefully we'll be able to improve on once the real
judiciary is reinstated.
Remember the website: www.pw.org.pk
People's Resistance Street Theatre in Karachi
(By Faris)
Yesterday (Feb.5th, Tuesday), the street theatre group of PR did three chilling performances on sea view. It was an 8 minutes long
theatre which highlighted the plight of a poor household, where a 'chowkidaar' takes absolute control by promising 'khushhaali' to its
inhabitants. Instead of their situation getting any better, the family is fed-up by the chowkidaar's demands for security measures in
their home. Finally, complete chaos takes place as the situation of the family and of society in general goes from bad to worst. During
the pandemonium, the narrator stops everyone and interacts with the crowd.
A lot of different and interesting views were exchanged with people on the beach. However, probably because of my green army cap
and crude punjabi-accented portrayal of the 'chowkidaar', people immediately answered Musharaff as the main culprit for the family's
plight. When asked what could be the solution for the household's problems, many people simply suggested the removal of the army
from civilian affairs, while others stated that all of us have to work together for the nation's betterment.
The theatre ended with the actors and people from the crowd moving in a tight circle and shoving off the 'chowkidaar', who tries to
break into them shouting 'main khushhaali lay kar hi aaon ga!' 'main ghar ki behtari karon ga!' People who joined us in this circle in all
three performances were really happy to be a part of the solution.
We would like to thank the handful of PR people who showed up. It was disheartening to see that they were less in number than my
own personal friends.
We must all thank Abira for providing her house for the past whole week for our theatre training. I would personally like to thank Mr.
Shahid Shafaat, our theatre guru, without whose dedication and training none of this would be possible. Please if everyone can send
him a thank you note on his email address: shahidshafaat@hotmail.com, its the least we can do to appreciate his commitment. Finally,
PR theatre group would not have even gathered if it wasn't for Ambreen's efforts. She has done a great job of coordinating and
motivating everyone interested to participate. Great work Ambreen!
We have tentatively planned to perform again on Sunday Feb.9th, obviously keeping in mind everyone's availability and the current
political situation.
troubled times.
troubled times.

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The Emergency Times Feb 8th, 2007 1

Please Photocopy and Distribute Issue 40

The Emergency Times

Quote of the Day

CONTACT: Devin Theriot-Orr, LUMS Rule of Law Project, +92(334)428-9694, rlp@riseup.net

Inspirational Meeting with Justice (R) Wajihuddin

External debt hits$40.322bn in 4 years

Myth Busters: Researchers Needed

Tired of Personality based politics?

Then Parliament Watch is Just for you

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