Dear President Musharraf:

I am deeply concerned about the military crackdown in Pakistan, which represents a direct assault on international law and the human rights standards enshrined in your country's own constitution. I call on you to release all prisoners of conscience who have been arbitrarily detained for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of thought and speech.

I understand that on 3 November 2007 you declared a "State of Emergency" in Pakistan and suspended much of the constitution. Hundreds of lawyers, human rights activists and other perceived opponents of your government were detained without charge or trial. Courts were prohibited from issuing any order against the President, the Prime Minister or any person exercising powers under your authority. Lawyers opposing these measures were arrested en masse, and a number of Supreme Court and Provincial High Court justices were suspended and placed under house arrest for refusing to take an oath to uphold the new Provisional Constitution Order. Human rights and democracy activists were also detained, and peaceful demonstrations were met with violence. I fear that those in detention have been tortured or are at risk of torture or ill-treatment.

After the crackdown, lawyers who supported independence of the judiciary, including President of the Supreme Court bar association Ali Ahmed Kurd, Aitzaz Ahsan, retired Justice Tariq Mahmood and Munir A. Malik, were arrested. At the time of this letter, Ali Ahmed Kurd is in jail, Aitzaz Ahsan is under house arrest, Tariq Mahmood is suffering from severe osteoarthritis and is still under a detention order, and Munir A. Malik is in a hospital suffering from life-threatening kidney failure, reportedly due to being subjected to harsh conditions in detention and denied necessary medical treatment.

Your government claims that the suspension of the constitution was a response to terrorism; however, the arrests under martial law targeted moderate and democratic critics of the government. I call on you to revoke the state of emergency, restore the constitution of Pakistan and immediately release all prisoners of conscience detained solely for their peacefully held political views.

Sincerely,

copy to:
Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
3517 International Court N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
     email: info@pakistan-embassy.org
     fax: 202-686-1534