Professor Osama Siddique: Lecture Tour November 26th- December 5th
The Campaign to Restore Democracy in Pakistan (CRDP) is an international campaign devoted to taking measures to ensure restoration of the rule of law and representative political participation in Pakistan. The unwarranted dismissal of judges , suspension of the Constitution , and declaration of a state of emergency on November 3rd by the Musharraf government has particularly heightened a situation rife with cases of forced disappearances , police brutality, torture, mass illegal arrests, and other violations of the rule of law.

CRDP's goals and strategies are determined at the direction of its steering-committee which is composed of lawyers, judges, political activists, and other singularly embattled groups in Pakistan together with their counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Together with its steering-committee and expanding group of partners , the campaign is carrying out lobbying, legislative, and media-outreach efforts in the United States and the United Kingdom to influence policy-measures towards a peaceable and democratic state of Pakistan.

The Judiciary Crisis in Pakistan

A majority of Pakistan's judiciary was dismissed on November 3rd when President Musharraf imposed martial law in the guise of "emergency." On November 13th, Pakistan's Supreme Court was due to hear the cases of 485 victims of enforced disappearance over the past six years. Many of these had returned with horror stories from detainment centers around the world, including the one in Guantanamo Bay.

With consultation with its partners, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the Bar Human Rights Committee of England Wales, and members of the American Bar Association, the campaign has issued the following list of priorities:

I. Restoration of Rule of Law in Pakistan

a. release of all judges, lawyers, and human rights activists who have been wrongly jailed;
b. lifting all curbs on media;
c. reinstatement of unconstitutionally removed judges and recognition of the sanctity of the rule of law.

II. Restoraton of Constitution and Amendments Securing Basic Freedoms in Pakistan Under a Provisional Government Independent of the Military

III. Fair and Transparent Elections on Federal, Provincial, and Local levels overseen by a team of international monitors.

In its current phase, dealing with the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan, the campaign is targeting members of the House Judiciary
Committee as well as the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in an effort to initiate an investigation of detainment and interrogation practices of the Pakistani government.