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Commonwealth turns the heat on Mush
US diplomat to visit Pak
‘Lawyers not to compromise on judiciary’s murder’
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2 retd judges inducted into Pak SC
Parties should unite to boycott
Rs 10,000 for pen of slain journalist
Picasso sketch worth $650,000 stolen in Mexico
‘Gandhi, My Father’ wins APSA award
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Commonwealth turns the heat on Mush
London, November 13 “The message is: ‘you got about 10 days’,” Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon declared after a meeting of a key group that decides on how to deal with persistent violators of democratic principles among the Commonwealth’s 53-member states. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which comprises the foreign ministers of nine nations, told Musharraf that Pakistan would be suspended if he does not shed his army uniform, repeal emergency provisions, restore the constitution, free jailed activists and lift media curbs by November 22. November 22 is when leaders of the Commonwealth begin a three-day summit in Kampala, with the situation in Pakistan expected to dominate their agenda. If Pakistan does not meet the conditions demanded, the CMAG, currently comprising Britain, Canada, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, will advice Commonwealth summit to suspend its membership. In its statement, the CMAG asked Musharraf to move rapidly towards the creation of conditions for the holding of free and fair elections which the Pakistan leader has promised by January 9 next year. The ministers expressed concern that the date on which President Musharraf had promised to step down as Chief of Army Staff, November 15, had been moved to November 22 and said it was alarmed at a recent amendment to the Army Act which retrospectively gives military courts the right to try civilians on charges of anti-national activities. In line with the United States and Britain, the Commonwealth also welcomed Musharraf’s announcement promising elections by January 9 but said the polls would not be credible unless the Pakistan president lifts the state of emergency that were imposed on grounds of fighting terror. Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth in 1999 after Musharraf ousted then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in an army coup but was restored as a full member five years later after Musharraf promised to shed his military uniform, a key Commonwealth demand that remains unfulfilled.
— IANS
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Washington, November 13 “We continue to want to see elections move forward and move forward in a free, fair and transparent manner. We want to see the emergency decree lifted,” US state department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. Negroponte was expected only to visit Islamabad, Casey said, adding that this made it unlikely that he would see Bhutto because she is not in the Pakistani capital. He also said Bhutto should not be under house arrest. The No 2 US diplomat will travel to Pakistan at the end of his current visit to Africa, the spokesman said. — Reuters
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‘Lawyers not to compromise on judiciary’s murder’
Amid reports that many top leaders of the lawyers’ movement being tortured under detention, the detained president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan has said the lawyers’ fraternity would never compromise on the murder of judiciary by Gen Musharraf.
In an interview to an English daily The News from Adiala jail, Aitzaz said the movement for the restoration of judiciary and rule of law and the constitution would continue. One report said Aitzaz’s predecessor and former president of SCBA, Munir Malik is seriously ill in Attock jail and his nose is bleeding. Similarly Ali Ahmed Kurd has complained of torture and harassment. Aitzaz, who was arrested from his Islamabad residence at the time of imposition of emergency on Saturday, contacted The News and said he has not been shifted to the Mianwali jail as was reported in a section of the Press. He said the government wants to threaten the lawyers and the civil society by sending judges and senior leaders of lawyers to far-flung areas or by spreading rumours. He said, “It doesn’t matter where I have been or I would be kept in prison by the dictator, who breached the Constitution twice and humiliated the judiciary many times.” Aitzaz said Musharraf’s regime suffers from misconception that by putting thousands of lawyers, civil society members and political party activists in prison and by torturing them, it can avoid the consequences of its illegal actions. “We want the rule of law, rule of the Constitution, an independent judiciary and a free media and we will fight for this till the last drop of our blood,” he said adding those who have breached the Constitution on November 3,” he said. Official sources here said the government has directed the medical examination of imprisoned Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and former chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General (retd) Hameed Gul. Meanwhile, the police reportedly baton-charged a peaceful protest rally by teen-aged schoolboys in Islamabad’s F-10 commercial centre and arrested 40 of them.
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2 retd judges inducted into Pak SC
In an apparent move to hasten a decision on the lifting of embargo on the notification of the result of the presidential election, President General Musharraf on Tuesday inducted two retired high court judges into the Supreme Court raising its strength to 11.
The new judges, Muhammad Akhtar Shabbir from Sindh and Zia Pervaiz from Punjab, were sworn in by chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO). The strength of the apex court recast under the PCO has now risen to 11, state-run PTV reported. It did not mention the 12th judge Justice Ashaad who was administered the oath in Karachi under the PCO on the first day of the promulgation of the emergency along with four others.Ashaad was picked up from hospital and taken to Governor House for the oath. Nothing was heard about him after that. Attorney-General Qayyum Malik told reporters later that the full court comprising 11 judges would start hearing the petition regarding the eligibility of President Musharraf on Wednesday.The petitioner, retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, was the rival presidential candidate but has declined to pursue his case in what he described as an illegally constituted court.His letter calling upon the new court not to undertake the petition was rejected by the chief justice on Saturday. The case that triggered Musharraf's second coup in the guise of an emergency on November 3 is thus likely to be disposed of ex parte though Malik said the government side would reiterate its arguments in any case and request that the embargo be vacated. He said the court would be requested to decide the case after hearing the government side if the petitioners didn't appear before the current judges.
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Parties should unite to boycott poll: Nawaz
Exiled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said Pakistan can rid itself of dictatorship if all parties unite to boycott the general election.
Nawaz told the Geo TV channel that elections would be meaningless if political activists and civil society representabtives were behind bars. He said he would recommend to the All- Parties Democratic Movement to boycott the elections as these could not be free without the restoration of the judiciary to its November 3 position. Sharif said he had written a letter to Benazir Bhutto spelling out conditions for reviving mutual cooperation that included disconnection of all overt and covert contacts with Musharraf.
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Rs 10,000 for pen of slain journalist
Kathmandu, November 13 A lawyer from the capital had expressed a desire through a local newspaper to buy the pen for Rs 10,000 or even more to honour the late journalist. “Though we could not save Sah's life, we have obtained a pen that is too precious for us to sell,” FNJ president Bishnu Nisthuri was quoted as saying. “The FNJ won't sell the pen at any price,” he added. Sah was murdered by suspected local Maoists after abduction last month. FNJ has already taken consent from Sah's family to keep and cherish the pen. ''This pen is also a lively testimony of painful memories, and we don't want to devalue it through an auction,'' said Nisthuri. Bishnu Bhandari, a lawyer, had contacted a reporter to express his wish to buy the pen. ''I only wanted to offer my respect to the pen by buying it,'' said Bhandari.
— UNI
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Picasso sketch worth $650,000 stolen in Mexico
An official of the Attorney General’s Office confirmed
that thieves took away the sketch entitled “Rostro masculino” (Male face), which was inside a metal
briefcase with a document specifying the value of the work. The owner of the sketch, Arturo Iturbide Hernandez, a resident of
Tlalnepantla, filed a complaint with the local police Sunday. Hernandez told authorities that
the thieves also took a collection of fine watches and a DVD player, along with some cash, which could be an indication that they did not know the value of the Picasso and took it only because it was in the same briefcase with the money.
— IANS
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‘Gandhi, My Father’ wins APSA award Gold Coast (Australia), November 13 Critically acclaimed Feroze Abbas Khan’s film was in the fray with ‘Lucky Miles’ (Australia), ‘Night Bus’ (Iran), ‘Secret Sunshine’ (Republic of Korea), and ‘Takva: A Man’s fear of God’ (Turkey). Receiving the award, Khan said, “I dedicate this award to the memory of the man who provided an alternative path of struggle to the world, non-violence. It is great for my country.” An international jury, headed by actress and activist Shabana Azmi, determined the winners in each category, which were announced at a high profile function attended by the who’s who in the film industry from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. There were 34 films from 19 countries nominated for the various categories of APSA. Besides, India, films from Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon, Iran, Turkey and Israel received the awards. — IANS
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Mexico City, November 13