Pakistani Authorities Detain and Expel U.S. Human Rights Activists
Yesterday, two American activists were arrested in Lahore, Pakistan, after a rally calling for the restoration of democracy in the wake of emergency rule declared by President Parvez Musharraf on November 3. Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the women's peace group CODE PINK, was abducted by authorities at gunpoint before later being released and expelled from the country. Upon her release, she said, "If they do this to us . . . imagine what they do to their own citizens."
Along with Los Angeles-based activist Tighe Barry, Benjamin had previously conducted a vigil outside the "sub-jail" of dissident-lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan. Ahsan, who was detained among over 1,300 lawyers in the immediate wake of the emergency declaration, remains under house arrest. He had challenged Musharraf earlier this year in a series of cases, including a successful defense of the Chief Justice when he was deposed in March and a challenge to Musharraf's candidacy to run for re-election that was pending at the time of -- and according to The Chicago Tribune, may have prompted -- Musharraf's declaration of the emergency. In response to calls for the restoration of democracy and the government's promise to hold elections in January, Ahsan said last week that "[t]here is martial law in the country, and I do not think free and fair elections are possible in the present situation."
UPDATE: Yesterday, the American Bar Association circulated an email to its members referring to the ABA's statements about the crisis in Pakistan. According to the ABA:
The arrests of Pakistan's Supreme Court justices, and of thousands of lawyers, judges and civil leaders, are a profound breach of the rule of law.The American Bar Association calls on President Pervez Musharraf to:
- Restore the Constitution of Pakistan;
- Reinstate Pakistan's Supreme Court justices; and
- Free those lawyers and civil leaders who have been wrongly jailed.