Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

PAKISTAN UNDER THE GUN
Perspectives on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law
Public Forum, Film Screening and Discussion

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007, 6:30 pm
Alma Van Dusen Room, Vancouver Public Library
350 West Georgia - between Homer and Hamilton(lower level -take elevator/stairs by main library entrance)
From Granville Skytrain Station: 2 blocks east on Dunsmuir, 1 block south on Homer

FREE EVENT:

Join us for a public forum and interactive discussion on human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan. Support the resistance of the Pakistani people!

Co-sponsored by the Vancouver and District Labour Council, India Pakistan Peace Network (IPPN), South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada. Endorsed by the PSAC International Solidarity Committee.

FILM SCREENING:

Showing for the first time in Vancouver, “Missing in Pakistan”. Newly released documentary from Pakistan. The Pakistani government is repeatedly preventing students from showing this film in the country.

SPEAKERS:
Imran Munir, Pakistani journalist and activist
Gail Davidson, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada and Lawyers Against War
Bill Sandhu, IPPN
Zahid Makhdoom, SANSAD
Vancouver and District Labour Council
Other speakers tba
Phone updates from Pakistan

“If they snatch my ink and pen, I should not complain, For I have dipped my fingers in the blood of my heart.
I should not complain, Even if they seal my tongue, For every ring of my chain is a tongue ready to speak” (Faiz)

The declaration of a state of emergency and the subsequent actions of the Musharraf regime have pushed Pakistan and its people to the brink and have resulted in widespread outrage and protests within the country and throughout the world.

The resistance movement within Pakistan has been growing stronger by the day, bolstered by international support from human rights and civil rights organizations, journalists, trade unions, lawyers’ groups and many others.

Events in the country are unfolding at a rapid pace. President Musharraf has scheduled elections for January and has said that he will lift the state of emergency in the near future.

Yet there have been no commitments to restore the suspended Supreme Court Justices (many of whom remain under strict house arrest) or lift the bans on the media or free the political prisoners who remain in detention. To fuel the blaze, all justices who refused to take oath under the unlawful PCO (Provisional Constitution Order) have been given a forceful retirement.

The lifting of the state of emergency and scheduling of an election for January will also not address many critical issues facing Pakistan such as the continued oppression of the many tribal people in the country, brutal conditions of poverty faced by more than 1/3 of the population, repression of trade union activities and the widespread and growing cases of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial detentions of hundreds of people in the name of national security and the U.S led war on terror.

In this setting, what are the prospects for peace, democracy and human rights in Pakistan? Is it possible to have a fair, free and impartial election without the restoration of the judiciary? What does democracy look like and how can it be achieved given the historical and present day political realities in the country? What role has the U.S played in the history of Pakistan and the region? How does this impact the current situation, particularly in relation to the U.S led war on terror and the resulting assault on civil liberties in Pakistan, the surrounding region and around the world?

For more information, email amaltaine@yahoo.com or call 604.764.6257

BACKGROUND:

On November 3rd, 2007 Pakistan President and Army Chief of Staff Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan and suspended the constitution and the judiciary.

Musharraf’s actions came on the eve of a Supreme Court hearing to rule on the petitions contesting his eligibility to contest presidential elections. Supreme Court Justices such as Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry were arrested along with lawyers who were counsels in the petitions including Munir Malik and President of the Supreme Court bar association Aitzaz Ahsan. Some members of the judiciary and lawyers still remain under house arrest. Munir Malik remains in serious condition after being tortured in detention.

Hundreds of human rights defenders, journalists, students, trade unionists and many other pro-democracy activists were also arrested and many were charged with acts of terrorism under the newly amended Army Act which allows the army to court martial civilians speaking out against the state with charges of sedition, treason and terrorism, any of which can carry the death penalty.

One of the most tragic casualties of Musharraf’s actions has been the loss of hope for the families of the hundreds of people disappeared by the government under the pretext of national security and the U.S led war on terror. The cases of 485 disappeared people - many missing for 6 years and more - were set to be heard in the Supreme Court by Chief Justice Chaudhry on November 13, 2007. The hearings are no longer taking place and after years of fighting to get back their loved ones, the families of the disappeared have had their hopes shattered.

According to Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, Pakistan’s involvement in the “war on terror” has led to horrendous abuses of civil rights. Mass arrests of alleged terror suspects - often for bounties of thousands of dollars - have led to detainees being taken away to the US detention facility at Guant�namo Bay in Cuba, transferred to secret CIA detention centers, unlawfully transferred to other countries or held in arbitrary or secret detention in Pakistan itself. Many - if not most - of these individuals have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated.

Most recently this practice has been used to quell dissent by activists and those perceived to be against the military regime including lawyers, journalists and nationalists from Sindh and Balochistan.

General Musharraf has justified his recent actions under the guise of protecting national security and fighting terrorism within Pakistan and the surrounding areas. However, many leading human rights and civil society organizations in Pakistan and around the world assert that Musharraf’s role as a key ally of the U.S led war on terror is a primary reason for the rise of insurgency within the country and the region.

Join us for a public forum and interactive discussion on human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan. Speak out in support of those that have been silenced under the rule of the gun. Support the resistance of the Pakistani people!