Lawyer John Adams was a descendant of zealously religious
Puritans who fled England in order "to establish a refuge for
godliness, a city upon a hill."1 Adams reportedly looked
upon his ancestors as "bearers of freedom" and the cause of freedom
as having a "holy urgency."2 Adams taught us that "fear
is the foundation of most governments"3 and that
"liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the
people."
With common knowledge of the truth about their circumstances, the
people would overcome fear of a hostile government. Adams wrote:
"The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The
Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in
their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations … This
radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and
affections of the people was the real …
Revolution."4
In the Middle East today, the ubiquitous "revolution" began in the
hearts and minds of these predominantly religious people as their
views, sentiments and affections melded together in search of
freedom and equity. Long-serving despots in the Middle East, fairly
described as "country owners," literally converted to their own
account the natural resources and finances of the state. Their
citizens were reduced to subservience, living day to day without
safety, security or predictability in their personal and commercial
dealings.
Safety, security and predictability are, of course, the hallmarks
of the rule of law. These country owners make their populations
cower through fear and brutality and hold on to power by keeping
them ignorant of the truth. But, modern technology in the form of
handheld cellular telephones, Internet connectivity and social
networks brought truth to ordinary citizens, opening the floodgates
of knowledge. While Adams might credit Facebook and Twitter with
facilitating the distribution of knowledge, he would also hold up
the lawyers of the Middle Eastern countries as soldiers of
freedom.
Lawyers armed only with conviction in the righteousness of their
cause for individual rights and justice placed themselves in harm's
way in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Bahrain. The images coming from
the Middle East speak volumes about the courage of our professional
colleagues.
On Feb. 11, 2011, lawyers dressed in their formal black robes
marched on Cairo's Presidential Abdeen Palace to "symbolically
cordon the president" according to lawyer Mostafa
Hamdy.5 Lawyer Abdel-Qawy Ashmawy told the Daily News
Egypt that he protested because he wanted "a state of law and
constitution." Ashmawy complained that the government "ignored the
orders and verdicts of the Supreme Administrative Court and the
Supreme Constitutional Court regarding
elections."6
In Libya, the protests began when government agents arrested Fathi
Terbil, a human-rights lawyer, outside the Benghazi courthouse on
Feb.15, 2011. The top floor of that same courthouse later became
the center of the opposition movement. Indeed, when freed, Terbil
operated a live, online stream he called Free Libya Radio from the
roof of the courthouse.
In Tripoli, some 200 lawyers and judges staged a sit-in at the
courthouse, surrounded by armed security forces. Libya's justice
minister resigned in protest over the use of excessive force
against demonstrators. And lawyer Amal Bagaigis told the
Guardian: "We started just as lawyers looking for our
rights and now we are revolutionaries. And we don't know how to
manage. We want to have our own face. For 42 years we have this
kind of barbarism. We now want to live."7
Adams, relying on religious tenets, spoke to the principle of just
insurrection.8 Lawyers in the Middle East, also relying
on their religious beliefs, likely would agree.
Here, in lawyer Adams' commonwealth, we admire our colleagues in
the Middle East for their courage to speak truth to power and for
their demand for freedom and the rule of law.
Richard P. Campbell is president-elect of the Massachusetts Bar
Association and founder and chairman of Campbell, Campbell, Edwards
& Conroy PC.
1R. Brookhiser, America's First Dynasty. The Adamses,
1735-1918. The Free Press, 2002, p.13
2Id., at 13.
3John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776.
4John Adams, Letter to H. Niles, February 13,
1818.
5
www.thedailynewsegypt.com/egypt/thousands-of-lawyers-march-to-abdeen-to-symbolically-cordon-president.html
6Id.
7
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/24/libya-benghazi-muammar-gaddafi
8Citing to Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, A Discourse Concerning
Unlimited Submission And Non-Resistance To The Higher Powers, Jan.
30, 1750.