Rule of law, not martial law, bar leaders petition

By Stephen Anderson

“The United States is a beacon of democracy, and we must shine that beacon wherever the rule of law is under attack,” said ISBA President Joseph G. Bisceglia during a Nov. 15 press conference in Chicago.

Representatives of other associations of lawyers and judges were invited by Bisceglia to join in signing a letter to Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, D.C..

The event focused attention on the declaration of martial law by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the detention of eight justices of the supreme court, and the incarceration of about a fourth of the country’s lawyers.

“We must show the leaders in Pakistan that the Illinois legal community stands in unanimous support of the lawyers and judges of Pakistan as they fight for the return of the rule of law in their country,” Bisceglia said in his invitation to bar representatives before the letter signing.

Many of those present on Nov. 15 wore black suits as a gesture of solidarity with Pakistani lawyers, who are similarly dressed when they appear in courts.

During the press conference, Bisceglia introduced Bilal Zaheer, an associate at Jenner & Block whose uncle is one of the detained Pakistani attorneys.

“My uncle’s whereabouts are unknown,” Zaheer said, adding that he has been affected on both a professional and personal level. “He dared to advocate democracy and an independent judiciary, and he had the temerity to speak out.”

Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudry, the deposed Pakistani chief justice, had used his cell phone on Nov. 6 to urge lawyers to revolt against Musharraf’s crackdown and imposition of emergency powers.

“Go to every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice. Don’t be afraid,” Chaudry said before the government cut off all mobile phone service.

“God will help us and the day will come when you’ll see the constitution supreme and no dictatorship for a long time,” the besieged justice pledged from his surrounded Islamabad residence.

More support expressed

The ISBA-led involvement by the state bench and bar followed a statement by American Bar Association President William H. Neukom that condemned “a profound breach of the rule of law” in Pakistan.

“Courts are society’s referees,” he said. “A judiciary that can impartially apply fair rules, without outside interference, is a cornerstone of lawful government.”

Neukom led a protest march and rally on Nov. 14 in Washington, along with Mohammad Akram Shiekh, senior advocate and past president of the Supreme Court of the Pakistan Bar Association.

Almost a thousand demonstrators joined the solidarity march from the Library of Congress to the U.S. Supreme Court, after which the ABA president lauded the bravery of Pakistani lawyers who protested dismissal of their high court.

A similar rally at the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago on Nov. 19 was organized by the Pakistani American Bar Association of North America, the National South Asian Bar Association and some local bar associations.

Many organization leaders issued statements last month, including 8th Circuit Judge Mark Schuering, president of the Illinois Judges Association.

“What happened in Pakistan reminds us that the telling distinction between the free world and the captive world is an untrammeled judiciary, comprised of judges who answer the rule of law and not the fiat of the ruler,” he said.

“Without vigilance, no system of justice is safe from political and partisan forces. A nation’s liberty depends on it.”

ISBA Assembly member Fred Spitzzeri of Naperville, president of the DuPage County Bar Association, disseminated a letter urging the Pakistani president to reinstate the constitution, release the innocent judges and lawyers, and “allow the nation’s courts and democratic process to proceed.”