Attacking Law and Lawyers

Judges and Lawyers: Defenders of Democratic Values

The Crisis in Pakistan is Our Crisis

Date: 22 November 2007

Time: 6.00pmVenue: Law Society

Speakers include:Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC

Other speakers tbc

The declaration of a state of emergency in Pakistan and the arrest anddetention of judges and lawyers is a violation of human rights and an assaulton the rule of law. What is currently taking place in Pakistan is of vitalconcern to lawyers all over the world. The consequence of this direct attackon judges and lawyers, as defenders against arbitrary government, is anattack on democracy and democratic values. With this violence against juristshas come the denial of basic guarantees of fair trial rights, protection fromunlawful detention and the absolute prohibition on torture. This attack onlaw and lawyers is the prelude to capricious government of doubtfullegitimacy, which undermines the security of us all.

This event organised by the Human Rights Lawyers Association and the LawSociety will analyse and explain the recent events in Pakistan from the perspective of human rights law. It will show how human rights are beingviolated and what must be done to remedy those violations. It will identifyhow events in Pakistan will not progress in the absence of a human rightsframework to restore the rule of law and democracy.There will be plenty of opportunity for questions, discussion and debate

The event is free. To register, please email DDelgado@barcouncil.org.uk

Please forward this email on to others who may be interested in attendingIf you wish to sign the Law Society petition, please go to: www.lawsociety.org.uk/pakistanpetition

Kind regards

Domonique Delgado
HRLA Administrator
The General Council of the Bar
289-293 High Holborn
London WC1V 2HZ
Tel: 020 7242 1289

Open Letter to David Cameron, MP

We have become accustomed to matters of security being cynically played for political point scoring. Your persistent call, with no evidence, for the criminalisation of Hizb ut-Tahrir and other Muslim groups and thinkers illustrates many things.

Firstly, you mislead the general public who expect their leaders to produce well informed arguments based on evidence. The complex issues that have created today's security environment have been reduced by you to the single issue of Islam's political ideas and its adherents - you, like Tony Blair and George W Bush before you, simply seek to divert any responsibility for creating today's security environment away from western government policies in the Muslim world.

Secondly, it confirms your party's credentials as an anti-Muslim party, who care little for community relations. You expose the promotion of a Muslim to the Shadow Cabinet as a veneer for your actual policies, by silencing her views on these matters (such that she utterly contradicts what she herself argued for over two years) and by having her stalked in her brief by one of the most hawkish of MPs.

Thirdly, the trail of your argument can be traced to various right wing neoconservative think tanks in Washington, via their sister organisations in the UK. It is well known that you have self declared neoconservatives in your front bench team and we are aware that some of your senior staff have been sent to Washington to consult with these people on these matters. These very same people who have advised you on the matter of Hizb ut-Tahrir, also call for the bombing of Iran (as they called for the war in Iraq), the withdrawal of Britain from the European Convention of Human Rights and the termination of your relationship with the Conservative Muslim Forum (recently described by one supporter of yours in the Heritage Foundation as a flirtation with Islamic extremism). Such views merely illustrate the fragility of the so-called principles of freedom and tolerance that you claim to believe in.

You prefer to ban ideas rather than debate them. You believe that voices that confront the policies of this country in the Muslim world should be silenced. Your views on non-violent groups like ours simply reinforces the belief in the Muslim world that this war on terror is not about preventing violence but preventing Muslims from living in their lands by their way of life - Islam - and imposing systems of your own. It is a recognised pattern that we have seen before under repressive regimes there.

We are willing to debate with you on any of these matters in a public forum. The cowardice of leaving your accusations to Parliament - where you enjoy the cover of legal protection - is telling. Your persistent call for a ban, censoring debate and discussion on important issues, suggests to me that you would not accept this offer, because you have no arguments and no proofs to bring to the table. However, our challenge stands regardless.

Abdul Wahid
Chairman UK-Executive committee
Hizb ut-Tahrir, Britain