Statement by the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture on the killing of lawyers and others in Quetta, Pakistan 8 August 2016
The New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture condemns the murder of Bilal Anwar Kasi, President of the Balochistan Bar Association, and the targeted mass murder of the lawyers gathered at Sandeman Civil Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, on Monday 8 August 2016. The lawyers had gathered at the hospital to mourn their colleague's death when they were subjected to a bombing attack.
NZBA President, Mr Clive Elliott QC, said that lawyers are often at the forefront in resisting attempts to undermine the rights of citizens and the concept of democracy. An attack on the legal profession is in itself an attack on the concept of the rule of law and civil society.
“An action such as this bombing, which targeted and attempted to intimidate lawyers, is an action against the fundamental rights of society as a whole and must be denounced in comprehensive terms”, said Mr Elliott. “The NZBA endorses the comments of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) Co-Chair, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, who in a statement on this atrocity said that there is much at stake.”
On behalf of the NZBA, Mr Elliott offered his sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the murdered lawyers and the other members of the public who lost their lives in this violent attack.
