Aitzaz Ahsan: U.S. Silent About Ousted Judge in Pakistan

Originally posted at blog.simplejustice.us on below link...
Aitzaz Ahsan: U.S. Silent About Ousted Judge in Pakistan

Posted by SHG at 7/3/2008 5:36 AM and is filed under uncategorized

At the request of the New York City Bar, I announced the relatively impromptu talk by Aitzaz Ahsan, leader of the Pakistani lawyers revolt stemming from the ouster of the Chief Justice of their Supreme Court. I figure the least I could do is close the loop.While lawyers around the country protested for a day after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf put an end to the rule of law in our ally, most of us went back to work afterward and didn't give it a second thought. After all, it's so much more interesting to talk about going to war for "freedom" than getting one's hands dirty in the actual nitty-gritty of it, especially when it's our own ally who's taking it away, America's silence.This was Ahsan's point, as related in this New York Lawyers Article.

In a breakfast talk yesterday at the New York City Bar Association, Aitzaz Ahsan, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, criticized the White House for not speaking "a word, a syllable" to protest the five-month house arrest of Pakistan's chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Mr. Ahsan said the administration had been silent because it "does not want to embarrass" Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Mr. Ahsan added that the silence is "noticed in Pakistan" and is "a tragedy in the larger context and canvas of Pakistan's place in the world."Without the reinstatement of the ousted judges and the return of the rule of law, Mr. Ahsan said, the "broad masses" in Pakistan are without "enforceable rights."In that environment, he asserted, "extremists will encroach upon the middle ground," leaving as vulnerable a front-line state in the war against terror.

Kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy about the loss of American lives so far away for the cause of freedom.Ahsan said that the lawyers of Pakistan recognized the protests by American lawyers and appreciated their efforts.

To keep up the pressure to reinstate the judges, Mr. Ahsan told the 120 lawyers who attended yesterday's 70-minute session that lawyer groups in Pakistan are calling for an international convention in September.He said he hoped "distinguished attorneys" from around the world and the "elected representatives" of bar associations would attend to hear first-hand accounts of Chief Justice Chaudhry and other ousted judges.
This is the flat world of the law, and while we espouse civil rights and freedoms for ourselves, will we care as much when it's about it in Pakistan? Bear in mind, there may come a day when we need the favor returned.