Bar states unanimous support for law and order in Pakistan

ISBA President Joseph G. Bisceglia and leaders of several other associations signed the following letter during a ceremony on Nov. 15 in Chicago, and sent it to Mahmud Ali Durrani at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, D.C.

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Dear Ambassador Durrani:

We lawyers and judges in Illinois stand in unanimous support of the lawyers and judges of Pakistan as they fight for the return of the rule of law in their country, and express our opposition to the recent actions of the governing regime of Pakistan.

The declaration of a state of emergency by President Musharraf on Nov. 3 was accompanied by dissolution of the Supreme Court and the four provisional high courts, the detention of eight justices of the Supreme Court, and sweeping restrictions on opposition parties and the media.

Thousands of Pakistan lawyers, accustomed to conducting their affairs with words and logic as part of a functioning system of justice, were forced to demonstrate through public assembly for the return of the rule of law.

Thousands of lawyers – by some estimates, one-fourth of all of Pakistan’s lawyers – were reportedly imprisoned on the first day of lawyer protests. Many other lawyers were beaten for taking their courageous stand in support of the constitutional rights that are being denied to all of Pakistan’s citizens.

We join with the American Bar Association in condemnation of these actions. As ABA President William H. Neukom said: “An independent bar and judiciary are a cornerstone of all lawful societies. It is essential, at a time when lawyers and the rule of law are under attack in Pakistan, that we work together to respond in a forceful and effective manner.”

We, the undersigned presidents of bar associations and judicial organizations, stand in solidarity with our beleaguered colleagues, and demand the reinstitution of the rule of law and a constitutional government in Pakistan.

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Copies were sent to President George W. Bush, members of the Illinois congressional delegation, and Mirza Aziz Akbar Baig, vice chair of the Pakistan Bar Council.