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2 South Asian attorneys among plaintiffs suing Bush

Suman Guha Mozumder
India Abroad Correspondent in New York

United States President George Bush was sued in a Manhattan court Wednesday by a human rights group and its attorneys, including two from South Asia.

They sued him for alleged violation of the first amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech through re-imposition of the Global Gag Rule in January this year.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit filed in the US district court, southern district of New York, by the Centre for Reproductive Law and Policy are Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Andrew Natsios, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

The 36-page suit alleges that the gag rule, which censors private political speech domestically and overseas, directly impedes the plaintiffs ability to further their organizational mission to reform reproductive health laws worldwide, including abortion laws, in accordance with international human rights principles.

"The defendants are interfering with plaintiffs' core political speech in over 60 countries, as well as in the United States, and international forums such as the United Nations," the suit alleged.

The gag rule violates the first amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances, and freedom of peaceable assembly as well as the freedom of expression, political participation and political association guaranteed in various internaional treaties signed and ratified by the US."

The announcement on the filing of the suit was made at a press conference Wednesday, which was addressed by Janet Benshoof, president of CRLP and CRLF staff attorney for South Asia, Melissa Upreti, a citizen of Nepal who works to bring about reform of abortion laws in South Asian countries.

Another staff lawyer, Anika Rahman, who is among the plaintiffs, was also present.

Dr Nafis Sadiq, former executive director of the United Nations Population Fund and members of CRLP's board of directors was also scheduled to address the conference, but she was away for personal reasons.

The suit asks for a preliminary injunction barring the defendants and their agents from enforcing the gag rule and to declare it unconstitutional and violative of international law and to enter a permanent injunction against enforcement of the law.

"By suing the president, CRLP is fighting for fairness, for freedom, and for democracy. We are taking a stand against accelerating government restrictions on individuals," Benshoof said. "Unfortunately, my speech has been censored by the Taleban or the Chinese by US President Bush," she said.

The global gag rule, according to CRLP, places broad prohibitions on the privately-funded activities of foreign organizations that receive US aid. These restrictions censor speech promoting abortion law reform and public education, it said, adding that by denying access to key players and information in other countries, the rule effectively prevents CRLF and its lawyers from influencing foreign governments to change their abortion laws.

Later speaking to India Abroad, Upreti said that the rule would adversely affect women in Nepal and Bangladesh, which are among the top 10 recipients of USAID. "I am a plaintiff because I want Bush to give me back my right of speech," Upreti, who came from Nepal to study law at the Columbia University, said.

EXTERNAL LINK
Fact-sheet on the Global Gag Rule

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