January 18, 2008	Friday	Muharram 08, 1429

LAHORE, Jan 17: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has criticised disconnection of water supply to the residence of deposed Chief Justice Mohammad Iftikhar Chaudhry.

It was most regrettable that the present regime had behaved worse than rowdy ‘qabza’ groups which employed such tactics to harass people, said HRCP chairperson Asma Jehangir in a statement issued here on Thursday.

She said there was no remorse shown by the government at the series of human rights violations it had committed over the past three years. The caretaker government too was pursuing the policy of oppression and intimidation, she said.

She said the continued illegal detention of Chief Justice Mohammad Iftikhar Chaudhry and members of his family was scandalous.

Ms Jehangir said: “It finds no parallel in any other country. Leaders of bar associations, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, Mr Tariq Mahmood and Mr Ali Ahmed Kurd continue to be detained and are refused proper medical treatment.”

She said the absence of an independent judiciary had given the Musharraf government a free hand to use tyrannical means to silence its opponents.

The statement said: “The HRCP resolves to continue to support all efforts aimed at the restoration of the Nov 2 judiciary. It will renew with greater vigour its campaign for the release of judges and lawyers who have played a pivotal role in mobilising public opinion in favour of the rule of law while denouncing the rule of the gun.”