Nawaz Sharif Quotes

The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary underpin our democracy and lie at the heart of our way of life. They are the very cornerstone of our freedoms.

Human rights and individual liberties, including religious freedom, will be at the heart of the new Iraq.

It is during our most challenging and uncertain moments that our nation's commitment to due process is most severely tested; and it is in those times that we must preserve our commitment at home to the principles for which we fight abroad

No law to combat terrorism should undermine the basic freedoms which we are trying to defend.

Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization.

Two things form the bedrock of any open society - freedom of expression and rule of law. If you don't have those things, you don't have a free country.

Since the ousting and capture of Saddam Hussein by U.S. forces, civil rights and personal freedoms have been restored in Iraq, as well as equal rights to all, not just to Saddam's entourage of terrorists.

Free speech, free press, free religion, the right of free assembly, yes, the right of petition—well, they are still radical ideas.

We're losing our freedom of speech. We are losing freedom of religion. We are losing freedom of the press.

Human rights are fundamental rights, they are the minimum, the very least we demand. Too often, they become the goal itself. What should be the minimum becomes the maximum - all we are supposed to expect - but human rights aren't enough. The goal is, and must always be, justice.

In the name of the rule of law, democracy and human rights, we cannot accept that the rights of individuals (Arab or Muslim) be trampled upon, or that populations are targeted and discriminated against in the name of the war against terrorism.

Most liberals think of civil liberties as their Achilles heel. It isn't.

Any terrorism is an attack on libertarian values.

If we destroy human rights and rule of law in the response to terrorism, they have won.

The subject of human rights in China is one which I have discussed on numerous occasions in the United States. In fact, I've talked so much about it, that I practically have blisters on my mouth. Human rights in China have been improving from one day to the next, and I think it's fair to say that the degree of human rights now being enjoyed by the Chinese people is unprecedented in China's history. We acknowledge that we still have shortcomings, and these shortcomings are ones which we are still working hard to address

Pakistan is a democracy. We cannot do anything against human rights.

It is ingrained into our national life that the rule of law makes us free.

In a Constitution for a free people, there can be no doubt that the meaning of ‘liberty’ must be broad indeed.

There should be constitutional liberty of speech and freedom of thought, which is the elementary right of every citizen under any civilized form of Government

The best thing we did with the Patriot Act was to sunset it. Almost 800 foreign nationals, immigrants, mostly Arab-Americans or people who looked like Arab-Americans, were arrested, put in jail, held without charges, no notification for their families and no right to counsel. That's un-American and I'll fight to end that. If we fight the terrorists who attacked us because of our liberties by compromising our liberties, shame on us.

I have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed, confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of law; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. These are not just American ideas; they are Human Rights.

There is no doubt that if we lived in a police state, it would be easier to catch terrorists. If we lived in a country that allowed the police to search your home at any time for any reason; if we lived in a country that allowed the government to open your mail, eavesdrop on your phone conversations, or intercept your email communications; if we lived in a country that allowed the government to hold people in jail indefinitely based on what they write or think, or based on mere suspicion that they are up to no good, then the government would no doubt discover and arrest more terrorists. But that probably would not be a country in which we would want to live. And that would not be a country for which we could, in good conscience, ask our young people to fight and die. In short, that would not be America.

Britain's anti-terror laws are an affront to democracy.

Access to information is a fundamental human right.

Within the United States, we have put great emphasis upon political freedoms. Because it has been our experience that these freedoms can lead to others.