Former Top Pakistan Judge Blames Country's Western Allies
Although bar groups throughout the world, including the ABA, have made unprecedented efforts to lobby for the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan, a deposed Pakistan supreme court judge contends government leaders in Western countries could and should do more.
Held under house arrest at his home in Lahore, former Supreme Court Judge Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, 62, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview that Western leaders should not be satisfied with pledges by the country’s president, Pervez Musharraf, to resign as military leader (which he has already done) and hold parliamentary elections Jan. 8.
Meanwhile, after Musharraf’s suspension of the country’s constitution Nov. 3, a total of 50 judges apparently have been removed from office including 11 supreme court judges who remain under house arrest, according to the AP article.
“I’m surprised at the governments and the administrations who claim to be leaders of the civilized world and leaders of freedom and democracy,” Ramday says. “I can’t reconcile to this, that nobody uttered even a single word on judges being dismissed, and not just that, judges being held in custody.
“Can you imagine a U.S. Supreme Court judge being held in custody only because he thought he would like to decide a case in the manner his conscience dictated?”
As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, lawyers are being urged by both the American Bar Association and the Canadian Bar Association to sign petitions seeking the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan. Both bar groups previously organized protest marches.
