On November 7, 2007, the following statement of the Santa Clara University law faculty and deans was released for publication. It expresses deep concern for the abrogation of the Rule of Law in Pakistan, a close political ally of the United States, and the well-being of Santa Clara Law graduate, Muneer Malik, who was detained by government forces. Mr. Malik is the Immediate Past President of the Pakistani Supreme Court Bar Association. Further, the Law Faculty concerns were communicated to the U.S. Secretary of State and several Congressional officials, in a letter released by Dean Donald J. Polden. The Santa Clara Law faculty and deans hope that others will follow with their letters of concerns and call for official U.S. action to restore civilian rule in Pakistan.
We are deeply concerned about the abrogation of the Rule of Law in Pakistan. General Musharraf, in a brazen attempt to perpetuate his own rule, has used his state apparatus to disband the highest courts of the country. Thousands of lawyers, journalists, judges, human rights activists have been jailed. In many cases families have no idea of the whereabouts of the detainees.
Our own concern is particularly sparked by the arrest and detention of one of our graduates, Muneer Malik, the Immediate Past President of the Pakistani Supreme Court Bar Association. His fate is, of course, merely a small part of the overall tragedy taking place but as we know him to be a conscientious, industrious lawyer dedicated to the welfare of his country, and not in the least a threat to law and order, he symbolizes the injustice being practiced.
We, in fact, are not an organized political group. We have never before joined in a statement of this sort with each other. What brings us together in this plea is the fact that we are all professors of law who teach in the law school which graduated Mr. Malik and who share a respect for the rule of law. We deplore what has happened. We assume that many more people like him have been swept from public view.
The Supreme and High Court judges have been locked in their own homes. Police have stormed into bar-association gatherings and have manhandled lawyers, some of them women, some of them septuagenarians! TV stations have been blacked out and police vans are carting off telecommunication equipment from private TV stations.
The US must use all its influence and in no uncertain terms demand the restoration of the Supreme Court status quo ante November 2, 2007. The U.S. government must demand the immediate release of and accounting for all persons who have been jailed after the promulgation of the so-called emergency. It should be recalled that President Musharraf removed the Chief Justice once before a short while ago and that he was forced to rescind his order because of the pressure of world opinion.
The embattled civil society in Pakistan must realize that America stands for the rule of Law and the liberty of all peoples.
Donald Polden, Dean, School of Law
George Alexander, Dean and Professor of Law, Emeritus
Patricia Cain, Inez Mabie Professor of La
Colleen Chien, Assistant Professor of Law
Rev. Paul Goda, S.J., Professor of Law
Allen Hammond, Phil and Bobbie San Filippo Professor of Law
Ellen Kreitzberg, Professor of Law
Philip Jimenez, Professor of Law
Jean Love, Elizabeth H. and John A. Sutro Professor of Law
Gary Neustadter, Professor of Law
Michelle Oberman, Professor of Law
Robert Peterson, Professor of Law
Mack Player, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Global Law and Policy
Margaret Russell, Professor of Law
Catherine Sandoval, Assistant Professor of Law
Kandis Scott, Professor of Law
Jiri Toman, Professor of Law
Gerald Uelman, Professor of Law and Director, California Commission for the
Fair Administration of Justice
Stephanie Wildman, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Social Justice
and Public Service
Nancy Wright, Professor of Law
Eric Wright, Professor of Law
David Yosifon, Assistant Professor of Law
