KABUL -
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told AFP on Tuesday the
restoration of the independence of Pakistan's judiciary is as important
as the holding of elections.
Louise Arbour also called
on Pakistan to lift its state of emergency "in plenty of time
to create an environment conducive to free and fair elections."
After weeks of turmoil,
Pakistan announced Tuesday a general election would be held January
8 and also released more than 3,000 prisoners jailed under emergency
rule imposed by President Pervez Musharraf on November 3.
"Not only is the
election process an important one, but the restoration of the judiciary
I think is equally important," the commissioner said in an
interview in Kabul at the end of a six-day visit.
Musharraf's imposition
of the state of emergency and replacement of the Supreme Court by
judges who have since dismissed challenges to his election were
a setback for democracy in Pakistan, she said.
"The main target
of this entire enterprise was a frontal attack on the judicial branch
of government and that is an enormous setback for democracy and
constitutionalism," Arbour said.
Musharraf sacked the
chief justice and 13 other Supreme Court judges and appointed a
new panel of judges who on Monday dismissed five of six challenges
to his October 6 re-election.
"They were all replaced
and now they validated the election. I think it is very troublesome,"
said Arbour.
The UN rights chief said
Pakistan had turned down her request for a visit but she would be
in transit in Islamabad Wednesday.
She said it was worrying
that "nobody seems to be calling for a reversal on this attack
on the judiciary," adding it remained to be seen if the democratic
process could "regain its momentum" after the recent events.
"I think a lot of
judges have refused to pledge to take an oath of allegiance to the
new regime, but because of the state of emergency we haven't seen
the level of protest that otherwise could have manifested itself,"
she said.
"The Story
of Pakistan, its struggle and its achievement, is the very story
of struggling to survive in the face of odds and difficulties.."
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Chittagong, March 1948)
|
