Pakistan’s Human Rights Woman Activist in Jail

Among the hundreds of opponents now being jailed by the military regime of General Musharraf, an outstanding woman human rights activist Asma Jahangir has been put behind bars for 90 days.

In a mesage smuggled out to The Independent of London just before she was taken to prison, Jahangir wrote: “Yesterday, I was put under house arrest for 90 days and I was given a copy of my detention order.

“Ironically President (Musharraf) – who has lost his marbles – said that he had to clamp down on the press and the judiciary to curb terrorism. Those he has arrested are progressive, secular-minded people while the terrorists are offered negotiations and ceasefires.”

Asma Jahangir is a leading Pakistani lawyer, head of the Pakistan Commission for Human Rights, and a special rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. She was heavily involved in the movement for the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry earlier this year. Ms Jahangir sent this message from her home in Lahore.

“Lawyers and civil society will challenge the government and the scene is likely to get uglier. We want friends of Pakistan to urge the United States administration to stop all support of the unstable dictator, as his lust for power is bringing the country close to a worse form of civil strife. It is now time for the international community to insist on preventive measures, otherwise cleaning up the mess may take decades…”

Another latest report buttresses Asma Jahangir’s assertion: “Less than 24 hours after the order was issued, militants in the Afghan border freed 211 captured Pakistani soldiers in exchange for the army’s decision to free 28 insurgents, including some allegedly connected to suicide attacks, officials said.

“Though they gave no explanation for the decision, it appeared to fly in the face of Musharraf’s claims that emergency rule was needed to make sure terrorists — dozens of whom he says have been freed by Pakistani courts — stay off the streets.”

According to The Economist: “General Musharraf’s campaign in the north-western tribal areas, an American-ordained policy that has come to symbolise his rule to many Pakistanis, is meanwhile threatened with disaster. The army is demoralised and increasingly suffering defeat at the hands of local zealots. In recent weeks, several hundred troops have surrendered; on November 5th 200 of these were reported to have been released by the militants in exchange for 25 militants freed by the government. In his address to the nation, General Musarraf admitted that: ‘the extremists don’t fear law enforcement agencies’.”

The Hindustan Times reports: “Salima Hashmi, an activist, painter and daughter of famous Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, has been arrested in Pakistan following the imposition of emergency, fellow activist Asma Jahangir told a TV news channel Sunday.”

PHOTO ABOVE: Asma Jahangir