Emergency Rule in Pakistan

Photo: Activists detained by police, B.K.Bangash/AP/IHT

By Elizabeth O'Loughlin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- In accordance with his declaration of Emergency Rule in Pakistan yesterday, General Pervez Musharraf has suspended the constitution, fired the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and deployed troops into city streets.  He claims that Pakistan is threatened by Islamic extremists who impose "their obsolete ideas on moderates."  Analysts and opposition leaders call the emergency act a declaration of martial law.

Pakistani police have also begun detaining opposition leaders and rights activists.  According to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, up to 500 opposition members have been detained in the past 24 hours including Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Asma Jehangir, chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

In fact, the entire Human Rights Commission was invaded by Pakistani police on Sunday and they arrested 50 activists.  According to the legal officer of the Commission, Mehbood Ahmed Khan, "They dragged us out, including the women.  It's inhuman, undemocratic, and a violation of human rights to enter a room and arrest people gathering peacefully there."

Musharraf's emergency order came as the Supreme Court was about to decide on the constitutionality of his recent Presidential victory.  His opponents claim that his election was unconstitutional because he was still army chief at the time. 

Musharraf had been facing growing opposition from the Supreme Court, as well as many political parties and hard-line Islamists.  Under the emergency act, the Supreme Court justices were ordered to take an oath to follow a provisional constitutional order that would replace the existing Constitution.  Seven of the seventeen justices rejected it, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.  That evening, these justices' homes were surrounded by Pakistani police and Chaudhry was replaced by a pro-government member of the Supreme Court.

Musharraf has also accused the Supreme Court of releasing terrorist suspects, slowing the spread of democracy and hurting the fight against terrorism.

According to Aziz, the emergency rule will remain in place "as long as it is necessary."  This could delay Parliament elections, originally planned for January, for up to a year.

For more information, please see:

Impunity Watch - Brief: Musharraf Declares State of Emergency in Pakistan - 3 November 2007

The New York Times - Pakistani Sets Emergency Rule, Defying the U.S. - 4 November 2007

Yahoo! News (AP) - Activists detained in Pakistan emergency - 4 November 2007

International Herald Tribune - Pakistan arrests opposition leaders - 4 November 2007