Asia: Pakistan: Labour Party Raided

Pakistan - Labour Party offices raided by Faroog Sulebria POLICE and soldiers raided the houses and the offices of Pakistan Labour party leaders on 22nd March. The raids were carried out after the Party had organized a demonstration in front of the US Consulate on the afternoon of 22nd March against the visit of President Clinton. No arrest was made at the time although there were hundreds of policemen present. The main reason for this could be the large presence of national and international media to cover the event. After a few hours, the police started raiding the different places to arrest Faroog Tariq, Shoaib Bhatti and Zafar Awan, the three main leaders of the LPP. They were fortunate enough to avoid the arrests and have since gone underground Labour Party headquarters and the office of the Weekly Mazdoor Jeddojuld have been raided several times and are now under police surveillance. Labour Party leaders have gone underground and are in consultation with their advocates They have advised them to avoid arrest until they could move to the courts for bails and other remedies still available. The strong reaction came after the PP was able to organize a very successful demonstration despite a ban on political activities. They defied the ban and had announced it beforehand in the national media. LPP leaders had declared that they would not abide by the law, which is in contradiction of basic human rights. The LP organized the demo at the time when every single religious group had welcomed the visit of US President, under pressure from the military rulers. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan issued a statement saying: "If various sections of society are being freely allowed to issue statements and express their satisfaction over the visit of the US president, the council noted that these who opposed this visit are equally entitled to express their opposition to it, particularly if the protest is made peacefully, as the LP demonstration was. The council demands that no one should be arrested or harassed for expressing their opinion through peaceful means. The recent ban on political rallies and demonstration, which violates fundamental human rights, should be lifted immediately. " Officials of major unions also condemned the raids. * Please send protest letters condemning the raids to the following addresses: Chief Executive General Pervez Musharaf, email, [email protected]; Federal Interior Minister Lt.Gen. (R) Moin -ud-Din Haider, fax number 92 51 9202642; Governor of Punjab Lt. Gen. (R) Muhammed Safdar, fax number 92 42 9200077. Please send a copy of the protest to LPP, email. [email protected].