On February 20th 2008, Lawyers without Borders Canada supported Lawyers Rights Watch Canada who submitted a written statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) calling on to protect human rights in Pakistan by ensuring the restoration of the judiciary and Constitution and the release of detained jurists (Pakistan statement).
As of the filing date, three groups had endorsed the Pakistan statement: Lawyers Without Borders/Canada - LWB/C, the Dutch Lawyers for Lawyers Foundation - L4L and the Asian Legal Resource Centre - ALRC. By the beginning of March 2008, 16 NGOs around the world had endorsed the Pakistan statement including the National Lawyers Guild, the Association of American Jurists, the International Association of Democratic Lawyer, the Bar Committee of England and Wales and the Law Society of Upper Canada. (complete list of NGOs endorsing Pakistan statement is below)
On March 7th 2008 LRWC made an oral presentation to the UNHRC in Geneva on behalf of LRWC and the 16 endorsing NGOs, summarizing the Pakistan statement.
A statement on behalf of thousands of lawyers and human rights activists around the world in support of thousands of lawyers and millions of human rights activists in Pakistan was remarkably compelling. We hope our organizations can continue to work effectively together.
LRWC Executive Director, Gail Davidson, who attended the 7th Session of the UNHRC for LRWC March 5-12, and representatives of L4L and ALRC met with UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Louise Arbour, Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak and Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders Hina Jilani.
Ms Jilani, a lawyer from Pakistan, said she was pleased that the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League - PML (N) had announced their shared intention to restore the judiciary within 30 days of Parliament resuming. She also said she believed that Pakistan civil society was strong and that their insistence on the restoration of the judiciary and the constitution and on political and military leaders adhering to the rule of law would prevail.
In a March 14th 2008 letter to LRWC, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Bernier wrote, , “…the Government of Canada remains concerned about political instability in Pakistan, the undermining of democratic values, the spread of extremism from the tribal areas, and the negative impact these developments have on regional stability more broadly.”
NGOS endorsing Pakistan Statement to 7th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council
Dutch Lawyers for Lawyers Foundation – L4L (the Netherlands)
Asian Human Rights Commission/Asian Legal Resource Centre – AHRC (Hong Kong)
Lawyers Without Borders Canada – LWB/C (Canada)
International Association of Democratic Lawyers – IADL (International/Belgium)
Republican Attorneys Association – RAV (Germany)
Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales – BHRC (United Kingdom)
National Lawyers Guild – NLG (United States)
American Association of Jurists – AAJ (International)
Rule of Law Project, Lahore University of Management Sciences - LUMS (Pakistan)
International Association of People's Lawyers –IAPL- (International/Philippines)
National Union of Peoples' Lawyers- NUPL (Philippines)
Counsels for the Defense of Liberties – CODAL (Philippines)
Front Line – International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (Ireland)
International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association – ICDAA (International/Canada)
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy – SANSAD (Canada)
Law Society of Upper Canada – LSUC (Canada)