NYC EVENT: Pakistan — Human Rights, Military Rule, and the State of Emergency @ Open Society Institute

OSI Forum: Pakistan—Human Rights, Military Rule, and the State of Emergency
Contact: Event Coordinator, [email protected]
Please RSVP with full name and affiliation.

On November 3, 2007, General Pervez Musharraf imposed “emergency rule” in Pakistan. Arguing that drastic measures were necessary to combat a terrorist threat, he suspended the Constitution and dismissed the Supreme Court, which was about to rule his election candidacy invalid. The imposition of martial law has been met with widespread protest, especially from the movement of lawyers that arisen in opposition to continued military rule. Thousands of lawyers, judges, human rights activists, students, and politicians have been arrested and detained in the last week.

OSI hosts a panel to discuss the recent upheaval, featuring the following speakers:

* Asma Jahangir (by phone from Pakistan), Pakistani lawyer and human rights advocate and Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. She is currently under house arrest in Lahore, Pakistan.
* Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History at Tufts University and an expert on Pakistan and Islam in South Asia.
* Anil Kalhan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Fordham Law School.
* Frederick Barton, Senior Adviser in the Center for Strategic & International Studies International Security Program and Codirector of the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project.

Breakfast will be provided.

The Open Forum speaker series aims to enhance policy debate on key issues facing Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and the Middle East, and to raise public awareness of important developments in these regions. Monthly Open Forum events are held in New York and Washington, DC, and are attended by leading policymakers, scholars, NGO staff, and journalists. All events are free of charge.