U.S. Legal Groups Express Support for Lawyers in Pakistan
This past week, a number of legal groups expressed their support for lawyers in Pakistan who are protesting the imposition of martial law. (A march is planned on Wednesday).
The American Bar Association observed that "President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan has suspended the national constitution, detained eight members of the Supreme Court and arrested more than 1,500 Pakistani lawyers." The ABA noted that "[c]ourts are society’s referees. A judiciary that can impartially apply fair rules, without outside interference, is a cornerstone of lawful government. . . . [S]hutting down a nation’s lawful institutions of justice will hurt, not help, the fight against terrorism."
In support of the rule of law and lawyers in Pakistan, on Wednesday, November 14, at 11:30 a.m., the ABA is organizing a lawyers’ march in Washington, D.C., starting at the Madison Building of the Library of Congress.
The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) said that it "deplores and condemns the abrogation of the Rule of Law in Pakistan." SALT also called for "the restoration of the Supreme Court . . . . [and] the immediate release of and accounting for all persons who have been jailed" since Musharraf suspended the constitution.