Asma Jahangir
Asma Jahangir writes in today’s Washington Post:
LAHORE, Pakistan — It was close to midnight last Saturday when Gen. Pervez Musharraf finally appeared on state-run television. That’s when police vans surrounded my house. I was warned not to leave, and hours later I learned I would be detained for 90 days.
At least I have the luxury of staying at home, though I cannot see anyone. But I can only watch, helpless, as this horror unfolds.
The Musharraf government has declared martial law to settle scores with lawyers and judges. Hundreds of innocent Pakistanis have been rounded up. Human rights activists, including women and senior citizens, have been beaten by police. Judges have been arrested and lawyers battered in their offices and the streets.
These citizens are our true assets: young, progressive and full of spirit. Many of them were trained to uphold the rule of law. They are being brutalized for seeking justice.
(Thanks, Elizabeth Angell)
I feel compelled to note that the authorities actually designated Jahangir’s house in Lahore an offical “sub-jail” (!) and on the weekend were holding other HRCP activists there because the Kot Lakhpat jail was too full of detainees.
Comment by elizabeth — November 9, 2007 @ 12:18 pm