Journalists, lawyers , opposition and human rights activists detained
(UPDATE: By evening -- reports that hundreds of preventative detentions are taking place including many human rights actvists were detained today upon simply meeting privately to discuss the situation.)
According to reports this morning, a number of prominent lawyers and journalists have been detained, including my (D's) boss at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asma Jehangir. Also detained are the judges of the Supreme Court, including the former Chief Justice (replaced last night with a Musharraf sycophant), the president and past president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (similar to the American Bar Association or the National Lawyers Guild in the USA). I am unsure whether I will be able to get any interviews together for my piece for FSRN on Monday because many of my contacts are detained.
This is such a sad turn of events for Pakistan.
For the first time in the country's history, the judiciary attempted to stop a military coup, issuing this order declaring the declaration of martial law to be illegal and urging military and civilian leaders to uphold the constitution. The order specifically directs the judges to refuse to uphold Musharraf's decision. Also a first for Pakistan, many members of the judiary have apparently resigned rather than uphold the imposition of martial law.
A and I thought that the declaration of martial law would focus on the uprising in Swat. And, of course, it does reference it a few times, but incredibly, Musharraf does not even hide his contempt for the judiciary. The declaration of martial law targets the judiciary directly as the reason for the imposition of martial law. Read it yourself if you'd like.
Typically, American made some rather weak comments discouraging martial law, but not too sharply. Now they're taking a "wait and see" approach as they've articulated that 'free and fair' elections are the priority... so as long as they go forward it's unlikely military aid or support will be withheld. And now that Musharaff has replaced those on the Supreme Court who had a backbone to uphold the constitution, he should have no problem standing for 're-election' (if you can consider his previous elections legitimate). Of course, America needs Pakistan's cooperation in the 'War on Terror', so meaningful gestures towards supporting democracy will likely only be utilized when convenient.
We're curious to see how many protests there will be today... partly it may depend on how successful the government has been at detaining opposition leaders. And, with the media on blackout (except for the internet which only a small minority of people have in Pakistan), it will be harder for news to be spread. In Lahore, phones are working fine, but we've heard that in Islamabad, last night at least, cell phone and landlines were cut. Alternately, A. wonders if this latest turn of events simply solidifies the cynicism that so many Pakistani's have about the country's politics. Nobody loves a military dictator, but the prospects for civilian rule are grim as well (though many still prefer a democratically elected civilian robber-baron-ocracy to dictatorship.) The sentiments of too many are reflected by the response my friend gave when asked about her mother's opinion of Musharraf, Bhutto and Sharif: "she thinks they can all rot in hell."
According to reports this morning, a number of prominent lawyers and journalists have been detained, including my (D's) boss at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asma Jehangir. Also detained are the judges of the Supreme Court, including the former Chief Justice (replaced last night with a Musharraf sycophant), the president and past president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (similar to the American Bar Association or the National Lawyers Guild in the USA). I am unsure whether I will be able to get any interviews together for my piece for FSRN on Monday because many of my contacts are detained.
This is such a sad turn of events for Pakistan.
For the first time in the country's history, the judiciary attempted to stop a military coup, issuing this order declaring the declaration of martial law to be illegal and urging military and civilian leaders to uphold the constitution. The order specifically directs the judges to refuse to uphold Musharraf's decision. Also a first for Pakistan, many members of the judiary have apparently resigned rather than uphold the imposition of martial law.
A and I thought that the declaration of martial law would focus on the uprising in Swat. And, of course, it does reference it a few times, but incredibly, Musharraf does not even hide his contempt for the judiciary. The declaration of martial law targets the judiciary directly as the reason for the imposition of martial law. Read it yourself if you'd like.
Typically, American made some rather weak comments discouraging martial law, but not too sharply. Now they're taking a "wait and see" approach as they've articulated that 'free and fair' elections are the priority... so as long as they go forward it's unlikely military aid or support will be withheld. And now that Musharaff has replaced those on the Supreme Court who had a backbone to uphold the constitution, he should have no problem standing for 're-election' (if you can consider his previous elections legitimate). Of course, America needs Pakistan's cooperation in the 'War on Terror', so meaningful gestures towards supporting democracy will likely only be utilized when convenient.
We're curious to see how many protests there will be today... partly it may depend on how successful the government has been at detaining opposition leaders. And, with the media on blackout (except for the internet which only a small minority of people have in Pakistan), it will be harder for news to be spread. In Lahore, phones are working fine, but we've heard that in Islamabad, last night at least, cell phone and landlines were cut. Alternately, A. wonders if this latest turn of events simply solidifies the cynicism that so many Pakistani's have about the country's politics. Nobody loves a military dictator, but the prospects for civilian rule are grim as well (though many still prefer a democratically elected civilian robber-baron-ocracy to dictatorship.) The sentiments of too many are reflected by the response my friend gave when asked about her mother's opinion of Musharraf, Bhutto and Sharif: "she thinks they can all rot in hell."