2008 ANNUAL REPORT - National Lawyers Guild

Justice for Pakistani Lawyers
“The Pakistan Justice Coalition’s commitment
to the lawyers’ movement
stems from our ethical and professional
obligation to support our counterparts
in their efforts to practice our
shared profession with integrity.”
Ryan Hancock, Mid-Atlantic VP of the
National Lawyers Guild.
On November 3, 2007, Pakistan’s
President Pervez Musharraf
declared a state of emergency,
suspended the constitution, shut
down the judicial system and arrested en mass
lawyers, judges and members of civil society.
In response, a delegation of Guild members
including Radhika Sainath, Kerem Levitas, Saba
Ahmed, Kathy Johnson, David Gespass, Enoka
Herat, Ryan Allen Hancock, Shahid Buttar, and
Devin Theriot-Orr ventured into the political
turmoil of Pakistan to defend the rule of law.
During their two-week stay, they traveled extensively
throughout Pakistan, interviewed over
60 jurists, lawyers, political party representatives,
elected officials, civil servants, journalists,
students, activists, among others.
The Guild was the only legal organization that
sent a delegation of lawyers and law students to
Pakistan during martial law. Upon their return
they released a report: Defending Dictatorship:
U.S. Foreign Policy and Pakistan’s Struggle for
Democracy and established the Pakistan Justice
Coalition (PJC) which has organized action
days nationwide in which many Guild members
have participated.
Specifically, PJC hosted a speaking tour featuring
Hamid Khan, Pakistan constitutional scholar; Sahibzada
Anwar Hamid, former Vice President of
the Supreme Court Bar Association; and Shahid
Buttar and Ryan Hancock of NLG. The elevenday
tour addressed over 1,000 people in 24 audiences
from a wide range of institutions, including
government representatives from the Department
of State and House Committee on Foreign Affairs;
bar associations in New York and Philadelphia;
policy analysts at the U.S. Institute of Peace,
and the Center for Strategic and International
Studies; journalists from BBC, NPR, Voice of
America, local newspapers and international and
Pakistani media; legal academic communities at
NYU, Columbia University, the University of
Pennsylvania, Rutgers-Camden, American University
Washington College of Law and Brooklyn
Law School; and Amnesty International.
Due in a large part to the Pakistan lawyers’ movement,
on August 18, 2008, Pervez Musharraf
resigned as president of Pakistan. Even though
Pervez Musharraf may be gone, Pakistan’s struggle
for an independent judiciary and the rule of
law continues. Each member of the delegation
continues to support and organize for the lawyers’
movement in their home towns.