IV 

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; 

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•HRES 823 IH 

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 

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•HRES 823 IH 

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 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns the imposition of a state of emer3 gency in Pakistan by General Pervez Musharraf on 

4 November 3, 2007; 

5 (2) commends members of the legal profession 

6 in Pakistan as well as opposition politicians, human 

7 rights activists, and independent journalists for their 

8 courageous opposition to the state of emergency and 

9 their principled leadership in defending the Constitu10 tion of Pakistan and promoting the rule of law; 

11 (3) calls on General Musharraf to rescind ‘‘Pro12 visional Constitutional Order No. 1 of 2007’’, and 

13 restore the Constitution of Pakistan; 

14 (4) calls on General Musharraf to restore to 

15 their positions all Supreme Court and high court 

16 justices and other members of the legal profession in 

17 Pakistan who have been removed from office and to 

18 respect the independence of the Pakistani judiciary; 

19 (5) calls on General Musharraf to rescind the 

20 ‘‘Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Regmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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•HRES 823 IH 

1 istration (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007’’ and allow 

2 independent media to re-open; 

3 (6) calls on General Musharraf to release the 

4 hundreds of opposition politicians, lawyers, journal5 ists, and human rights activists recently arrested; 

6 (7) expects General Musharraf to step down as 

7 Chief of Army Staff as he has repeatedly promised 

8 to do; 

9 (8) urges that free and fair elections be held be10 fore January 15, 2008, as previously scheduled; and 

11 (9) urges President George W. Bush to suspend 

12 all military assistance including the sale and transfer 

13 of military equipment to the Government of Paki14 stan until the conditions described in paragraphs (3) 

15 through (8) have been met. 

Æ 

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