[Congressional Bills 110th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H. Res. 823 Introduced in House (IH)] 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 823 Condemning the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 14, 2007 Mr. Ackerman (for himself and Mr. Delahunt) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ RESOLUTION Condemning the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan. Whereas on November 3, 2007, General Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan; Whereas General Musharraf issued ``Provisional Constitutional Order No. 1 of 2007'' suspending the Constitution of Pakistan and arrogating to himself extraordinary powers; Whereas General Musharraf has removed from their positions 7 Supreme Court justices who attempted to challenge the constitutionality of his declarations; Whereas most Supreme Court and high court justices have refused to take new oaths of office under the state of emergency, and thousands of lawyers have honored the call of the Lahore Bar Council to refuse to appear before judges who have taken the new oath; Whereas Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudry, who was summarily dismissed by General Musharraf in March 2007 and reinstated by the Supreme Court in July 2007, has been removed under the state of emergency, but has refused to recognize his removal or the state of emergency, and has called upon citizens to ``rise up for the supremacy of the constitution''; Whereas General Musharraf issued the ``Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007'' which censors independent media outlets, and has resulted in some television stations being closed by Pakistani authorities; Whereas former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is under house arrest, and hundreds of opposition politicians, lawyers, journalists, and human rights workers have been arrested by Pakistani police and remain jailed without charges; Whereas Dr. Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on freedom of religion and belief, has been placed under house arrest for 90 days; Whereas Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has stated that ``the United States has made clear that it does not support extra constitutional measures because those measures would take Pakistan away from the path of democracy and civilian rule''; Whereas President George W. Bush has stated that ``emergency measures in Pakistan undermine democracy''; Whereas the principles of constitutional order and the rule of law are prerequisites to any functioning democracy; and Whereas these actions by General Musharraf undermine the efforts of the Government of Pakistan and the Government of the United States to effectively fight against al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists and threaten United States interests in South Asia: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) condemns the imposition of a state of emergency in Pakistan by General Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007; (2) commends members of the legal profession in Pakistan as well as opposition politicians, human rights activists, and independent journalists for their courageous opposition to the state of emergency and their principled leadership in defending the Constitution of Pakistan and promoting the rule of law; (3) calls on General Musharraf to rescind ``Provisional Constitutional Order No. 1 of 2007'', and restore the Constitution of Pakistan; (4) calls on General Musharraf to restore to their positions all Supreme Court and high court justices and other members of the legal profession in Pakistan who have been removed from office and to respect the independence of the Pakistani judiciary; (5) calls on General Musharraf to rescind the ``Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007'' and allow independent media to re-open; (6) calls on General Musharraf to release the hundreds of opposition politicians, lawyers, journalists, and human rights activists recently arrested; (7) expects General Musharraf to step down as Chief of Army Staff as he has repeatedly promised to do; (8) urges that free and fair elections be held before January 15, 2008, as previously scheduled; and (9) urges President George W. Bush to suspend all military assistance including the sale and transfer of military equipment to the Government of Pakistan until the conditions described in paragraphs (3) through (8) have been met. <all>