Citizens Challenge Emergency Rule in Pakistan

Democratic space remains under threat in Pakistan despite the recent elections. Now Here is an attempt to intimidate the media once again. See the CPJ press release.

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA
Phone: (212) 465‑1004
Fax: (212) 465‑9568
Web: www.cpj.org
E-Mail: media@cpj.org


Pakistan Supreme Court moves to silence media


New York, May 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Pakistani Supreme Court to drop its efforts to control media coverage. The court today ordered Geo TV, the country’s most popular private broadcaster, and its print affiliate, Jang Group, to present all video clips and news articles dating to November 3, 2007, on the controversial issue of reinstating judges sacked last year by President Pervez Musharraf.

The court set a May 22 deadline for Geo and Jang to meet the demand or be held in contempt of court, according to Pakistani media reports. The court said Geo and the Daily Jang, the group’s flagship Urdu-language newspaper, had erroneously reported that Supreme Court Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi had taken part in a recent meeting between government ministers and high court justices. The court, which issued the order on its initiative, is currently controlled by Musharraf appointees.

The court did back down from an earlier, more far-reaching order. On Friday, it directed Geo TV and the Jang Group to stop reporting entirely on the judicial reinstatement issue. The court vacated the original order today after a raucous hearing in which several journalists vowed to disobey the directive.

“The Supreme Court’s decision threatens to reverse the movement toward renewed media freedom that came after elections three months ago,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The court should be working to uphold freedom of the press, not silencing it whenever a controversial issue emerges in Pakistan.”

Soon after today’s hearing, Minister of Information Sherry Rehman told Mazhar Abbas, secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, that the government did not support the court’s decision and would work to resolve the issue. She made the statement on Abbas’ political discussion program on ARY One World TV.

The judicial issue is a sensitive one in Pakistan. The new coalition government led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has split over the issue of reinstating the judges. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who supports reinstatement of the judges, has left the cabinet as a result of the split but has not withdrawn his party from the coalition.

The split has threatened Pakistan’s move back to democracy after eight years of military rule under Musharraf. At the same time in November that Musharraf sacked 60 judges who had resisted his government, he closed down all private news broadcasters—about 40—all of which are distributed by cable. Geo was the last major broadcaster to resume broadcasting after it resisted government pressure to sign a code of conduct.

Dawn
April 01, 2008

The boycott revisited

by S. Akbar Zaidi and Afiya S. Zia

MANY of us, who come from very different backgrounds — academics, analysts, activists, citizens — argued over the course of October and November last year that civil society actors and political parties ought to boycott the elections which were announced by Gen Pervez Musharraf, and which were eventually held on Feb 18.

It was clear that once the term of the Shaukat Aziz government came to an end, elections would be held to elect a new parliament.

In the closing months of last year, political groupings like the All Parties Democratic Movement and the Pakistan Muslim League-N announced that they would not contest the polls, primarily because they felt that the elections would be neither free nor fair, and nor were these parties willing to accept any rules of the game announced by the uniformed general-president.

The efficacy of the decision depended much on whether the Pakistan People’s Party would also come on board and hence give some credence to the boycott call. Many were sceptical that if either of the two largest parties chose to participate in the elections, they would gain legitimacy and those who boycotted would be left out of the political process.

Eventually, both the two largest parties agreed to contest an election which resulted in a resounding victory for the anti-Musharraf political forces and put Pakistan on the way to a military-free democratic future. Today, we can all celebrate the democratic process and look back and say that the decision to contest was the best decision that political parties could have taken.

Two weeks into the swearing-in of the new parliament, it seems that almost all the fears and concerns that the boycotters were allaying have been proven to be wrong. The judges are free, and are likely to be reinstated, and President Musharraf just might be pressurised into make some sort of hurried exit. The script could not have been written any better and democracy seems to have triumphed over all other forms of politics.

Having said this, it would be naïve to think that the parties are taking these steps in a vacuum. There is no ignoring the momentum and uncompromised push for these demands coming consistently from the lawyers’ movement, civil society and perhaps within the parties too. In fact, rather than waiting detachedly for some unproven exercise of sovereignty from parliament, the people chose to actively vote out the government and then exerted continued political pressure for their demands to be met.

It is only a small section of those we call the ‘apologists’ within and outside the political parties who seek to dilute principles and encourage leaders to backtrack on promises for their personal gain, and who call democratic pressure a ‘confrontation’.

Those of us who were in favour of the election boycott were under no illusions that we were anywhere near a revolutionary situation similar to France in 1789, or even 1968, but felt that a boycott by the main political actors would put enough pressure on the Musharraf government where it would have to back down and make major concessions. The lawyers’ movement was still vibrant, and the Nov 3 martial law and the playing with the constitution under the PCO energised and united diverse sections of civil society and political actors as well.

We were confident that had the PPP joined the lawyers’ struggle and been more active in its anti-Musharraf politics rather than indulging in deals, perhaps the general may have been forced out earlier. The boycott decision was based on a reading of the limited strength of the street, and had the two largest parties participated we could have been near an Indonesia- or Philippines-like situation where political power overthrew authoritarianism.

We will never know what would have happened if both the PPP and the PML-N had agreed in November 2007 to work together to boycott the polls. If agreements and a workable coalition can be formed after the election, a more uncertain and unstable agreement could have been possible in agreeing to boycott. However, we will never know.

While the boycott decision may have become far less important as the numbers who supported the move dwindled, and more and more political actors and civil society representatives decided to contest or support the elections, if nothing else the boycott issue did raise the level of debate and exchange in the political public arena.

While there was a complete consensus in condemning the martial law imposed on Nov 3, and there was continued support for the lawyers’ movement with the reinstatement of the judges a real demand, the divisions amongst those who were in favour of boycotting the elections and those who supported participation raised the level of discourse in the Urdu and English press manifold. There was a lively debate not seen since the time of the 1999 coup — and even that was rather one-sided, in favour of the coup. The op-ed pages of all major newspapers had raised the level of debate and argumentation to a lively level not seen in many years. The otherwise dry and staid political public sphere had come alive.

This taste for political debate acquired by the media has also been simultaneously attributed to Gen Musharraf’s personal largesse and equally dismissed as cacophonic laundry washing by the elite. The point of democratic choices and transparency, as articulated by the fourth estate, needs to be dealt with carefully now on. There should be no calls for going soft on the new parliament simply because it is nebulous in its formation. The democratic role of the media must by definition be challenging and expository rather than conciliatory and uncritical.

Many of us who supported the boycott decision are now happy to have been proven wrong, and support the larger democratic process to further strengthen and deepen both democracy and civil society. We recognise, however, the role of the movements which helped bring about this new democratisation in Pakistan beyond electoral politics. We hope that the processes under way and the promises made will move towards a further fruition of democracy with the reinstatement of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary and with the removal of the former general-president who was resoundingly defeated in the Feb 18 elections.

Those who argued for the elections boycott now need to organise themselves democratically to fulfil the unfinished agenda of democratisation in Pakistan and to ensure that these tasks are accomplished. Clearly, democracy has to be taken far further than before and needs to be strengthened. If parliament is to be sovereign — the new mantra of the elected representatives — the role of those outside the assembly has to be one which ensures that parliamentarians accomplish their democratic mandate.

And if they don’t state or tackle the peoples’ issues due to fear of being de-tracked, then it is our work to set the agenda for them — on behalf of the electorate, not the elected. While happy to have been proven wrong over the boycott decision, we would hate to turn around a hundred days later to say, ‘we told you so’.

RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE NATIONAL LAWYER’S CONVENTION HELD IN ISLAMABAD UNDER THE AEGIS OF PAKISTAN BAR COUNCIL

FEBRUARY 9, 2008


WHEREAS on March 9, 2007, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was illegally and unconstitutionally removed, manhandled and put under house arrest.

AND WHEREAS the Chief Justice of Pakistan took a courageous stand against tyranny and for the supremacy of the Constitution and independence of judiciary.

AND WHEREAS the legal fraternity, the media, civil society and the people of Pakistan condemned and struggled against the illegal and unconstitutional act(s) of the usurper, which led to the honourable restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan by a thirteen member bench of the Supreme Court on July 20, 2007.

AND WHEREAS on November 3, 2007, the usurper General (Rtd) Pervaiz Musharraf, solely in an act of vengeance abrogated and/or subverted the Constitution through an unconstitutional and illegal proclamation of emergence.

AND WHEREAS the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and 60 other judges were illegally detained along with their families including an eight year old physically challenged child.

AND WHEREAS the members of the Convention salute the courage of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and all other judges who have stood up to protect, preserve and defend the Constitution and independence of judiciary.

AND WHEREAS several lawyers, members of civil society and political parties, particularly leaders of the struggle, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice (Rtd) Tariq Mehmud, Ali Ahmed Kurd and Muneer A. Malik were illegally arrested and have been kept incarcerated and detained.

AND WHEREAS the Convention condemns the attempted murder of Muneeer. A. Malik.

AND WHEREAS after November 3, 2007 an attempt has been made by the dictator to mutilate the Constitution through illegal purported amendments, which is a subversion of the Constitution in terms of Article 6 thereof and punishable under the law.

AND WHEREAS certain persons claiming to be judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts have colluded and collaborated with the dictator for the subversion and/or abrogation of the Constitution by taking oath under the PCO, which besides being high treason is also contempt of the order passed on November 3, 2007 by the seven member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

AND WHEREAS the lawyers of Pakistan strongly condemn all acts carried out on November 3, 2007 and thereafter in violation of the order of the seven member bench of the Supreme Court, the same being subversion of the Constitution and high treason.

AND WHEREAS the Convention appreciates and expresses gratitude to the lawyers of the United States of America, Canada, UK, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, and several other countries for their support and solidarity. Special thanks are extended to the New York Bar Association and the Harvard Law School for acknowledging and supporting the stand taken by Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

AND WHEREAS the National Lawyers Convention resolves to continue the struggle till the restoration of the Constitution and the Hon’ble members of the judiciary as of November 2, 2007.

AND WHEREAS the Convention unequivocally recognizes Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry as the Chief Justice of Pakistan and all other judges who refused to take oath under the PCO, as the legitimate and constitutional judges.


THEREFORE, the Convention declares as under;

1. All Persons, who colluded in the subversion of the Constitution by accepting the PCO and taking oath there under are usurpers and are in contempt of the order of the seven member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

2. The Convention does not recognize any PCO judge as the legitimate and constitutional holder of their respective offices and all persons who took oath as judges on or after November 3, 2007 are usurpers and collaborators of the dictator and have committed high treason.

3. The Convention condemns the illegal and unconstitutional detention of Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and his family, Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, Justice Srdar Mohammad Reza Khan, Justice Khali ur Rehman Ramday, Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, Justice Mian Shakir ullah Jan, Justice Ch. Ejaz, Justice Falak Sher, Justice Tassaduq Jillani, Justice Tariq Pervaiz, Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice (Rtd) Tariq Mehmud, Ali Ahmed Kurd.

4. The Convention condemns the atrocious violations of human rights, civil liberties and fundamental rights since November 3, 2007 and salutes all those who have sacrificed for the cause of upholding, defending and preserving the Constitution and independence of judiciary.

5. The Convention in particular condemns the detention of the youngest political prisoner in the world i.e Bilaj Iftikhar, the eight year old child of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who has been held in detention since November 3, 2007.

6. The Convention condemns the false and illegal registration of FIR’s against the lawyers in Peshawar and the sealing of the High Court Bar premises.

7. The Convention condemns the recent appointment of judges of the superior courts and resolves not to recognize them as such.

8. The Convention condemns the findings of the Scotland Yard report in the matter relating to the assassination of Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.

9. The lawyers of Pakistan salute and appreciate the role of the members of the media and press, who have upheld their commitment to freedom of expression and the supremacy of the Constitution. The purported amendments made in PEMRA Ordinance and the restrictions placed on certain media persons and television channels are hereby rejected and condemned.

10. The Convention condemns the purported amendments made in the Army Act and the Practitioners and Bar Councils Act and declares any such attempt as illegal, unconstitutional and a subversion of the Constitution.

The Convention, therefore, resolves as follows;

1. Immediate restoration of the pre 3rd November, 2007 judiciary and the Constitution.

2. Immediate release of Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and members of his family, other detained judges, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice (Rtd) Tariq Mehmud and Ali Ahmed Kurd.

3. Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other judges, who refused to take oath under the PCO, be allowed and facilitated to assume their respective offices forthwith.

4. Removal of all restrictions on the media and press.

5. Withdrawal of the FIR’s against lawyers in Peshawar and other parts of the country.

6. Formation of an independent high powered Tribunal to try all those responsible for the subversion of the Constitution on November 3, 2007 and the subsequent collaboration in the acts of high treason.

7. Complete boycott of the judges who took oath under the PCO.

8. Next National Convention of Lawyers will be held at Lahore on March 15, 2008.

This Resolution was unanimously passed and adopted by the National Lawyers Convention at Islamabad on February 9, 2008.

[The below article appeared under a different title in Dawn, 6 February 2008]

The Struggle for Pakistan’s Future

by Hassan N Gardezi


The Deep Trouble

During the year 2007, Pakistan witnessed a wave of disappearances, dismantling of the higher judiciary, brutal suppression of the lawyers’ movement; crack down on the media and journalists, arrests and house detentions, and finally the imposition of a state of emergency on November 3. On top of it all the year saw a sharp escalation of suicide bombings that rose to 56 incidents from 8 in the previous year, killing 618 people and wounding 1657, according to government’s own statistics. If none of these atrocities brought home the message, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on December 27 and its aftermath sent out a loud and clear signal that Pakistan as a nation state is in deep trouble. Although one of the many crises Pakistan has seen in its short history, the depth and scale of this latest eruption is such that it will not admit of any solution short of a radical remaking of the country’s political culture and institutions.

But before anything can be done to restore the long term stability and security of Pakistan, there has to be a political consensus on what needs to be done immediately to bring a modicum of normalcy in the present political situation in order to move forward towards establishing a legitimate representative government that can deal with the monumental tasks ahead. There are two options in this respect being already debated and pursued in the country.

Elections

One of these options or line of action is to go ahead with the elections under the present setup, originally slated for January 8 and postponed to February 18 after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Interestingly, the path to this option was opened as a result of a US sponsored plan to prop up Gen. Musharraf’s regime, besieged by protests in the summer of 2007, by giving it a democratic façade. Under this plan or “power sharing deal,” brokered by US diplomats, Musharraf cleared the way for Benazir Bhutto to return to Pakistan and seek re-election to the position of prime minister, and in return she agreed that her party (PPP) will not oppose Musharraf’s election to president’s office for another 5 year term. On October 6 Musharraf was elected president of Pakistan for a second term by the outgoing parliament as the opposition parties boycotted the vote and Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18 to launch her election campaign to become prime minister.

It is true that after the state of emergency was imposed on Nov. 3, and Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest between Nov. 9 and 13, she began to urge President Musharraf to resign. But the main focus of her party has remained on winning the elections under the present setup. Those who still speak for Pakistan Peoples Party believe that despite a strong possibility of rigging, they will win the elections and any change in the present setup presided over by Musharraf can wait until their electoral victory is accomplished. Beyond this calculation, they neither seem to have the patience nor willingness to articulate in any detail their strategic or programmatic plan of action to be pursued after the election is over. The only two major items of PPP agenda spelled out clearly by Ms Bhutto in her short lived electoral campaign after her return to Pakistan comprised of a stronger cooperation with the American “war on Terror” and the ending of extremist religious violence at home. (Whether the two objectives can be perused successfully at the same time is another mater).

Nevertheless, it is quite likely that barring a major rigging effort which cannot be out ruled, PPP can easily win a majority in the national parliament if elections are held as scheduled. The tragic death of Benazir Bhutto has created an emotional upsurge of popular electoral support for her party. Even large segments of party supporters who for various reasons had previously become disenchanted with PPP now seem to be ready to vote for it, no matter by whom and how the party is runs.

The other mainstream opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), PMLN, has also taken up the electoral option but it is vocally critical of the set up under which these elections are going to be held. Its leader Nawaz Sharif who was finally allowed to return to Pakistan from his exile on November 25 wants the installation of an interim government without Musharraf to establish suitable conditions for fair and free elections. While PPP leaders want elections to be held immediately, Nawaz Sharif will accept even some delay to ensure the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.

With his own nomination papers rejected by the present election commission, Nawaz Sharif seems to have assumed a position of philosophical detachment over who comes to power as a result of next elections, so long as Musharraf is out of the picture. As for the electoral strength of PMLN, it has considerable following in Punjab. It had a majority of parliamentary seats in the Nawaz Sharif government that was overthrown in 1999 by the Musharraf coup. Many leaders of the PMLN who defected to form the “king’s party” under Musharraf, the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid-e-Azam), PMLQ, have or intend to return to their original party.

The Movement

The second option or line of action that is open as a starting point for a durable solution of Pakistan’s problems is more of an extension of the ongoing lawyers’ movement which erupted in March 2007 when Gen. Musharraf for the first time forced the Supreme Court chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, out of office. Among the politicians Imran Khan, the head of the Tahrek-e-Insaf party is an outspoken advocate of this line of action. It is based on the premise that Pakistan cannot move forward unless the present crooked setup, contrived by Musharraf’s authoritarian regime, is quashed and rule of law restored. In specific terms this means the realization of following minimal conditions:

1. Ex-army chief Gen. Musharraf, steps down from the office of president.
2. All the pre-November 3 judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts are reinstated.
3. The 1973 Constitution is restored, without the amendments introduced by military regimes.
4. The present caretaker governments, which are simply extensions of the PMLQ, are replaced by caretaker governments acceptable to all parties, and charged with holding elections within a fixed period of time.
5. A new election commission acceptable to all political parties is appointed.
6. All political prisoners, including judges and lawyers under house arrest, are released.

Rushing into the elections orchestrated by Musharraf under pressure, before the above preconditions for a fair vote are met, is deemed problematic on several grounds. Firstly, it confers legitimacy on Musharraf’s hold on the presidency, which he acquired through legally devious means by firing the Chief Justice of Pakistan and his panel of judges who were about to rule on the legality of his election to the office. To agree to participate in elections under him also sanitises his wrongful actions taken since the imposition of emergency rule on Nov. 3.

Secondly, the present set up contrived by Musharraf opens the door to massive rigging of elections, and this is known to all politicians. To put it in the words of Imran Khan from a recent speech he made in New York, the February 18 elections will witness “the mother of all riggings.” There are credible reasons for these fears. The partisan character of the caretaker governments and the election commission is one of them. Then there are the local level governments, products of Musharraf’s “devolution of power” scheme. Their nazims (administrators), especially in the populous Punjab, are dominated by PMLQ. They can be very effective instruments of rigging with their influence peddling, intimidation and even resort to kidnappings of political workers and candidates. Another factor that is already casting a shadow over the fairness of proposed elections is the number of cases registered by police against people implicated in widespread riots that broke out in the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. The PPP sources have claimed that multiple cases have been registered against half a million of their supporters and political workers in the Sindh province alone. In the absence of a functional and independent judiciary there seems to be no remedy to this predicament.

Thirdly, if against all odds the elections turn out to be fair enough to produce a government by PPP with a parliamentary majority of its own, or in coalition with PMLN, this in itself will scarcely be a victory for democracy. Much will depend on whether this government accepts the status quo and settles down to work in a power sharing arrangement with Musharraf as president for the next five years, or asserts its independence and opts for some real change. The latter at least will involve reinstatement of the pre Nov. 3 judiciary, challenge to the legality of Musharraf’s hold on presidency, and rescinding of the 17th constitutional amendment which empowers the president to dissolve the parliament and dismiss the prime minister.

Unforeseen can always happen in politics, but given its past history and present makeup PPP, or for that matter PMLN , is not the party that once in power can be expected to venture too far from the status quo. The leadership of the party remains firmly with feudal elements, its most capable and principled p leader, Aitezaz Ahsan, has withdrawn from the electoral context and the party has no articulated political and socio-economic agenda.

Tasks Ahead

Pakistan today is going through a crisis that is unprecedented in its intensity and complexity. It will be foolish to spread the illusion that a hastily arranged election, without a functional and independent judiciary, and a compromised constitution can put the country back to the road to democracy.

Musharraf regime is already tottering under increasing opposition within Pakistan and pressure from abroad. He is making pathetically desperate attempts to save his legally questionable presidency by trying to make last minute deals with leaders of the PPP and PMLN at home while pleading for support in Western capitals. There is no need to give his presidency a democratic gloss by any means. The only negotiation with him should be limited to address the strategy of his exit.

What is important is a transition to an elected government based firmly on the institutional structure of democratic governance – a constitution with entrenched human and civil rights, an independent judiciary, and a free press and broadcast media. Thanks to the lawyers’ movement, Pakistan has never been closer to achieving these essentials of democratic rule. What is more challenging and difficult is to undertake the tasks ahead which can help sustain democratic rule, and make Pakistan a peaceful and economically just society.

The significance of these tasks for Pakistan’s future and how they can be accomplished is another subject for exploration which can be left to another time. But some of the most critical ones, on which much has already been said elsewhere, need to be pointed out here as a reminder while the struggle for the country’s future is on.

1. The praetorian role of the Pakistan army has to be ended.
2. The hegemony of United States over Pakistan’s internal politics and foreign policy has to be ended.
3. While freedom of belief and worship should be guarantied, the Pakistani state should be taken out of playing with the politics of religion.
4. The World Bank/ IMF credo of economic growth has to be replaced by emphasis on economic justice.
5. The autonomy of the federating units of Pakistan must be respected.

The Guardian
February 8, 2008

House arrest: judge's daughter tells of family's plight


· Ex-chief justice, wife and children held in Islamabad
· No school or check-ups for disabled eight-year-old

Declan Walsh in Islamabad


Pakistan's youngest political prisoner lives in a house on a hill just a few hundred metres from President Pervez Musharraf's soaring presidential palace in Islamabad. Little about him is typical. He is physically disabled, spends his days watching cartoons on TV, and is eight years old.

Bilaj Chaudhry is the son of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Pakistan's former chief justice. Since he was fired by Musharraf three months ago, the judge, his wife and four children have been locked in their house. Barbed wire barricades block the street, armed police and intelligence agents swarm outside, and visitors are forbidden. The phones have been cut, the water supply disrupted, and an employee who delivers food is carefully searched. Even stepping on to the front lawn is forbidden.

Article continues
For Musharraf's critics, who now include several retired generals, their ordeal highlights the parlous state of the law as Pakistan hurtles towards elections on February 18. The detention is "entirely unlawful" said a report by the Lahore-based Rule of Law project yesterday.

Chaudhry has remained silent, communicating only through angry letters smuggled out to fellow lawyers. But this week his 16-year-old daughter, Palwasha, gave the Guardian a rare interview using a mobile phone. "I'm sitting upstairs and I can see the intelligence men and police from my window. There's maybe 50 of them," she said. "We can't leave."

The A-level student - nicknamed "the commander" by the judge's allies for her ability to smuggle things in and out of the house - said life inside the five-bedroom jail was difficult. A padlock hangs on the front gate and nobody can enter or leave - not even Palwasha's brother, Bilaj, who has been disabled since birth. "He needs a monthly checkup. But that is physically impossible, as you can see," she said.

The Saudi ambassador, who was allowed to visit, tried to lure her father away with the promise of a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. He politely refused.

Officials from the British Council were allowed to conduct a private exam for Palwasha's 18-year-old sister, Ifra. Palwasha herself has read and re-read the Harry Potter books, and fears she will miss her A-levels this summer. "I miss my studies and I miss my friends," she said.

The government claims the Chaudhry family is at liberty to leave. The reality is very different - police with batons and teargas drove back a crowd of supporters who tried to reach the house this week.

Despite numerous attempts, the Guardian was unable to reach a government spokesman for comment yesterday.

Dubbed "Pakistan's forgotten man" by Newsweek, Chaudhry's plight has been largely ignored by Musharraf's western allies, who are reluctant to confront him on the issue. A spokesman for the British high commission in Islamabad said it called for the release of all political detainees, but that it was "not our business to get involved in specific cases".

Lawyers say that stand is eroding popular support for the west. "The US and UK should consider one thing - they are rapidly losing their goodwill in this country," said Athar Minallah, a lawyer.

Meanwhile, Musharraf is pressing ahead with efforts to crush all lawyer-led protests. Last weekend his interim government extended the detention of three senior lawyers, also held since November, by another month.

"This is a disgrace," shouted lawyer Tariq Mahmoud, surrounded by police at his front gate in Islamabad. "What have I done? Am I the biggest terrorist in this country? I have told my children to leave. This is not a country where one can live."

The baton of resistance may be taken up by an unlikely group. On Tuesday several hundred retired generals, admirals and servicemen held a demonstration in Rawalpindi to demand the president's resignation. Musharraf dismissed them as "insignificant", telling the Financial Times: "Most of them are ones who served under me, and I kicked them out."

But the sight of army stalwarts chanting anti-Musharraf slogans on the doorstep of the powerful military establishment may presage more turmoil after the poll.

The chief justice's imprisonment has not become a major election issue, partly due to continuing restrictions on the media. But even Musharraf's aides admit his handling of Chaudhry has been wrong. "We said it was a mistake. We told Mr Musharraf as much as early as last March," said a senior aide, Mushahid Hussain.

Meanwhile the judge remains at home, reading and praying, said his daughter. "We are very proud of him," Palwasha said. "I am very conscious that in the end victory will be ours."

Backstory

Human rights groups accuse President Pervez Musharraf of waging a vendetta against Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the chief justice he fired in November. During a recent tour of Europe Musharraf aides circulated an eight-page memo filled with accusations against the judge.

Pakistan's supreme court dismissed many of the serious charges, nepotism, fraud and abuse of office, last July. But the document also included fresh accusations, mostly in the form of anecdotes, ranging from the comic to the bizarre.

Chaudhry was guilty of "highhandedness", it said, by making civil servants wait hours to see him. He was accused of berating officials in Lahore after they provided him with an old-model Mercedes during a trip to the city. In a visit to a government lodge in the mountains, it was claimed, he stopped a guest from using his toilet.

Chaudhry was accused of an "obsession for self projection" in the media and of bullying state TV into broadcasting his appearances.

A few weeks later Chaudhry smuggled a letter from his house in which he rejected the charges. "They are flimsy and ridiculous," he wrote. "After all, a prisoner must also have his say."

Musharraf's new chief justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar, lives a few doors away. He has yet to rule on the matter.

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA
Phone: (212) 465-1004 Fax: (212) 465-9568
Web: www.cpj.org
E-Mail: media@cpj.org


Musharraf government suspends TV station

New York, February 7, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s decision to remove independent broadcaster Aaj TV from air for more than 12 hours.

Satellite transmissions of Aaj were shut down Wednesday after a prominent critic of the Musharraf government, Nusrat Javed, appeared on a late-night political talk show, according to The Associated Press. Aaj was among more than 40 channels that were taken off air soon after Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended the country’s constitution on November 3. Though all the channels eventually broadcast again, many did so only after taking anchors and journalists critical of the government off the air and curtailing live coverage of demonstrations and other events that showed opposition to the government.

“We have repeatedly opposed the Musharraf government’s attempts to restrict the press as Pakistan’s political situation has grown worse,” said Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director. “Now, in the run-up to the elections scheduled for February 18, the situation is growing increasingly critical. It is time for those governments that claim to support a democratic process in Pakistan, and who have thrown their support behind President Musharraf, to exert pressure on him to ensure a free and open media can cover the electoral process without fear of punishment.”

Aaj was shut down midway through the live talk show “Live with Talat,” a popular political show, after Javed appeared as a guest, The Associated Press reported. He had also anchored his own popular late night show, “Bolta Pakistan” (Talking Pakistan) before the November 3 clampdown.

The station had resumed transmission on Thursday, and a spokesman for the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority told The Associated Press the block had never occurred.

The Judicial Solidarity Rally

Date:
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Time:
7:00am - 10:00pm
Location:
Begins at Neher Ghar, Zaman Park, Lahore; ends at Supreme Court, Islamabad
Street:
Nehar Ghar is in the Zaman Park service lane near Aitzaz Ahsan's house.

Today Pakistan stands at the crossroads of chaos and instability. The events of November 3rd, and December 27, 2007, have had a devastating affect on our nation, the Balkanization of which is now a very likely future scenario. The gravity of the situation demands that we, the people of Pakistan, stay united and work for the restoration of our judiciary, which can restore order to our nation. In the wake of rising provincial disharmony and the judicial crisis, Hum Logge has organized a plan to rally under the flag of Pakistan for solidarity on February 9th, 2008 from Lahore to the capital, Islamabad, via the G.T. road.

"Hum Logge" consists of organizers, in consultation with the Leaders of the Bars and major political parties, who are advocates of civil rights, the independence of judiciary, and a restoration of democracy. The parties will participate in the rally for a national cause since they too stand as a symbol of the Federation. We will rally with full support and enthusiasm from all classes of people (awam: the real people), the Leaders of the Bars and other participants including WAF (Women Action Forum), HRCP (Human Rights Commission of Pakistan), CCP (Concerned Citizens of Pakistan), the members of various NGOs, local civil society groups, SAC (Student Action Committee), and most importantly, the most marginalized citizens of this nation, who are the real voters. Hum Logge- We, the people, ARE the government. United we stand to make our voice heard.

Objectives:

The rally aims to reiterate the people's demands for the restoration of the judiciary, free and fair elections for democracy, and to show solidarity amongst the four provinces in order to move the country away from the prevailing, vulnerable situation. It's time to work together for the solidarity of our country.

We will join our brethren in Islamabad and together march towards the Supreme Court so that we can influence the present regime to meet our demands. We aim to show solidarity with judicial leaders who are acting players for the suppressed of the country, and who are fighting for the independence of the judiciary, civil liberties, freedom of democracy, a free media, and a society rid of atrocities and tyranny.

We anticipate everyone's involvement and request that all individuals and organizations send their delegations as representatives in large numbers to show strength, power and the struggle of the people of Pakistan for their rights and for democracy.

This is for PAKISTAN and for ALL Pakistanis. It does not matter who you are and what your affiliations are. We ONLY want the Pakistani flag here, be it in the form of the flag itself, stickers, banners, etc. We want to focus on unity instead of the minor differences in agenda that we may have. Now is the time to unite.

We would also be obliged if people can donate cars for transportation to Islamabad. Please do register your cars with us and confirm the number of people you will be bringing along with Bina Qureshi. Please contact Bina Qureshi and Nabiha Meher in Lahore, and Kamil Hamid in Islamabad for any details and information.

UNITED WE STAND FOR A SOLID PAKISTAN.


Looking forward,

Bina Qureshi
Team leader
Phone number: 0300-8412435
Email: images_help@yahoo.com

Nabiha Meher:
Phone #: 0308-4579807
nabihameher@gmail.com

Kamil Hamid:
Phone #: 0345-5104892
kamilhamid@gmail.com