NEW YORK, March 27: The chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan charged that President Musharraf not only wants "a pliant judiciary, he wants a totally subservient one”, adding "but it's very difficult in 2007 to have that with today's free media and the independent bar."

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Asma Jahangir asserted that "insecure dictators see ghosts everywhere", noting that “this is not the first time it has happened."

"He forced the Supreme Court justices to swear a loyalty oath to him when he came in (via a bloodless coup in 1999). The president, Ms Jahangir maintained "has tried once again to lie and to mislead everybody", and added "his move is not as casual and simple as he puts it. It was obviously pre-planned."

As regards the missing Pakistanis on which the chief justice ruled and Musharraf has said they are jihadis, Ms Jahangir said: "He wants the world to feel that these disappeared people are Islamic militants, which is not true. I would say 60-70 per cent on the list of the 141 disappeared people that we have given to the Supreme Court are Sindhi and Baloch nationalists who are secular. And some of these nationalists are well known in the country. They are poets and writers, and their work is secular. They have no connection to jihad, or Al Qaeda or Taliban. “Either he's living in denial or is misled. But I think he is just lying."

The HRCP chairperson, who is a Supreme Court lawyer, said: "As far as the missing people are concerned, Justice Chaudhry has not given a single judgment on it. He kept the HRCP’s petition pending for one and half months. But since we are lawyers of renown, it is very difficult for any judge to kick us around -– he had to hear it. But he went at it very slowly.”

He did give a notice to the government (to act), but he really didn't give a judgment. There was not a single time when he said that those who kept these people should be brought to justice. All he was doing was saying to the government “let's find some people".

“How can any court close its eye to hundreds of people who have disappeared?”

Asked whether President Musharraf worried that Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry would rule against his retaining a dual role as president and chief of army staff later this year, Ms Jahangir said: “Whether the president can continue to wear his uniform or not is not an issue. We do not think that any judge has that kind of courage, including Justice Chaudhry. We don't think that these judges have gumption or courage."

Asked what will happen if the Supreme Judicial Council exonerates and reinstates the chief justice, Ms Jahangir said: "If the SJC restores (Justice Chaudhry) to the bench I don't know if he can perform independently because lawyers are championing his cause. Would a chief justice who comes back riding on the shoulders of lawyers be able to sit on the bench and not be able to think about the fact that he owes his reinstatement to lawyers?"

NEWSWEEK: How do you see this ending?