[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>