ISLAMABAD, March 30: The legal fraternity should protest against the failure of the military government to protect the lives and properties of the people as they were living in a state of constant fear.
This was stated by Abu Inam, President of Sindh High Court Bar Association, while speaking at the peace conference organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) here on Saturday.
“Instead of dwelling at length on the atrocities of Israel against Palestinians or Indians against Kashmir, we should first discuss the prevailing law and order situation inside the country as charity always begins at home.”
Mr Abul Inam, who was the chief guest of the second session of the conference, recalled that more than 270 doctors had been killed by terrorists through target shootings in the country and a majority of them belonged to Sindh. He also suggested to have a fully fledged debate on the failure of the government, which was making tall claims about restoring law and order in the country.
SCBA President Hamid Khan said that the events of September 11 had put the future of Pakistan at stake as all norms of international law and sovereignty of nations had been broken.
Presided over by Mr Hamid Khan, Chief of Supreme Court Bar Association, the subject of the morning session was “international law of human rights and liability for violation of its principles.”
The conference also adopted two sets of resolutions, asking the United Nations to ensure that all states, powerful or weak, should observe the provisions of UN Charter of Human Rights and impose sanctions against violators of these rights. The subject of the second session was “regional wars, prisoners of war and responsibility of the international community.”
Mr Hamid Khan also deplored that the SCBA was unfairly denied the opportunity to use the Supreme Court auditorium to hold the conference for no apparent reason. “Perhaps this was done, out of the fear that the lawyers in their deliberations would openly criticize the government policies,” he observed, adding that being part of the SC establishment, it was our right to use the grand auditorium.
“Anyway we are holding the conference in a comfortable environment and as lawyers we value our freedom of speech the most,” Mr Hamid said.
He lamented that thugs and criminals like Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and Indian Home Minister L K Advani had been let loose on the innocent, helpless and defenceless Palestinians and the Indian Muslims while there had been bombings and use of weapons of mass destruction on a large scale by the US in Afghanistan.
The so-called champions of human rights like US had turned into worst violators and the UN declaration on human rights had been violated with impunity. He said the Security Council had failed to protect lives and human rights in the Third World countries, in the Muslim countries.
He said that it was in this backdrop that the SCBA decided to organize the conference as the SCBA was the most sensitive members of the civil society of Pakistan. It was all the more important because Pakistan was under the military rule, he observed.
Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry, the President of the Lahore High Court Bar, Rawalpindi bench, asked the audience to take into account the Taliban factor also. “We should be vigilant so that the US does not enlarge the controversial resolution of the UN Security Council for its gains.” He also asked holding of protest demonstrations against the US policies.
The conference, through resolutions, condemned Israeli attack on Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. and appealed to international community to put an end to the massacre of Palestinians.
The conference condemned the Israeli attack on the defenceless and impoverished Palestinians, and called upon the international community to take immediate action to stop the genocide of the Palestinians.
The conference condemned the killings of innocent Muslims and members of other minorities in India at the hands of religious bigots and extremists with the connivance of the government in Gujrat and at the centre and appealed to the international community to take immediate steps to stop the massacre of Muslims in India.
The conference demanded that the US bombing in Afghanistan should be brought to an end and the US should desist from attacking Iraq, Iran and North Korea.