HRCP slams govt for blocking water supply to CJP’s house.

* Commission chairwoman’s statement alleges absence of independent judiciary has given the government ‘a free hand’

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Thursday drew attention to the fact that the government had cut off deposed chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (CJP)’s residence’s water connection, and condemned the treatment being meted out to the him, members of his family and the legal fraternity. “The HRCP deplores that the water connection to the residence of chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has been disconnected,” said a statement issued by HRCP Chairwoman Asma Jahangir on Thursday.It said such tactics were generally employed by “kabza groups to harass people” and it was “most regrettable that the present regime has behaved worse”. The HRCP termed “the continued illegal detention” of Chaudhry and members of his family “a scandal”. “Leaders of bar associations, Aitzaz Ahsan, Tariq Mahmood and Ali Ahmed Kurd continue to be detained and are being refused proper medical treatment,” it added.Free hand: The HRCP said the absence of an independent judiciary had “given the Musharraf government a free hand to use tyrannical means to silence its opponents”. It alleged that the government had shown no remorse over the series of human rights violations it had perpetrated in the last three years. The caretaker government has also continued to pursue the policy of oppression and intimidation, it added. “Lawyers and judges of Pakistan have played a pivotal role in mobilising public opinion in favour of the rule of law,” the statement said, and vowed that HRCP would “continue to support all efforts aimed at the restoration of the November 2 judiciary,” and renew its campaign for the release of detained judges and lawyers. staff report

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