MORE MURDERS IN CONGO?

Press, Volume C, Issue 29444, 21 February 1961, Page 18

MORE MURDERS IN CONGO?

U.N. Fears Killing Of Lumumbists

(Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK, February 20. The United Nations Security Council will today debate the Congo crisis, inflamed further by a United Nations report of possible political murders of Lumumbists.

The United Nations, on the eve of another session in the tense Congo debate, warned yesterday that Leopoldville authorities were deporting and possibly assassinating Congolese politicians.

The 11-member council is also faced with three separate peace plans for the young turbulent nation, and a Soviet resolution for the dismissal of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral, Mr Dag Hammarskjold.

The council chamber is expected to be open to the public today for the first time since last Wednesday, when fist-swinging rioters turned the session into uproar. However, United Nations guards, carrying truncheons for the first time, and New York police units were standing by lest the world-wide shock wave of violence over the death of Mr Patrice Lumumba breaks out again. As diplomats spent the week-end preparing for the debate, the United Nations Congo representative. Mr Rajeshwar Dayal, of India, said the fate of several political leaders, who were arrested and deported by the Leopoldville authorities, was still unknown. “There have been persistent rumours of the physical liquidation of the deported persons on their arrival in Bakwanga. capital of South Kasai Province.” Mr Dayal reported. Among those reported killed was the President of Oriental Province. Mr Jean-Pierre Finant.

The reports Indicated that at least seven and probably several more political captives were killed between February 9 and 14. he said. “Atmosphere of Fear” "The arbitrary arrest and deportation of a number of political personalities in violation of fundamental human rights. has created an atmosphere of fear and apprehension.” Mr Dayal said.

Mr Finant was rumoured to have been killed and a Secretary of State In the first Lumumba Government. Mr Lumbala. reported to have been assassinated with others last Tuesday, he said. The arrests and deportations ha t d been carried out in secrecy. but had come to the knowledge of the United Nations Command as a result of complaints from anxious friends and relatives. This wave of arrests and de-po-tations could give rise to serious consequences.

In spite of repeated attempts to ascertain the names of the arrested persons and the charges against them or the reasons for their deportation, little was known, although “it is clear that they (the deportees) subscribed to political persuasions other than those of the Leopoldville authorities” the report said. None of the deported persons had been brought before the Prosecutor-General. although. according to Congolese law, he was the man responsible for the preparation of criminal charges.

Neither the United Nations Command nor the International Red Cross had been able to obtain interviews with those held, Mr Dayal said. He had written to the Premier of Kasai, Mr Kalonji, for information and requesting that humane treatment be accorded the prisoners, but his letters had not been answered. Use of Force

During intensive back-stage talks during the week-end the United States delegation was reported to have worked on amendments to a resolution sponsored by Ceylon, Liberia and the United Arab Republic urging the United .Nations “to use force if necessary” to avert the spread of civil war in the Congo. The draft, tabled last Friday, also calls for an immediate and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the murder of Mr Lumumba and two of his associates. The chief United States

delegate, Mr Adlai Stevenson, was understood to have argued in private meetings with Afro-Asian delegates that the resolution should contain a specific reference to Mr Hammarskjold and also to the President of the Congo Republic, Mr Joseph Kasavubu. The three sponsors had deliberately omitted any reference to Mr Hammarskjold in an attempt to sidestep a Soviet veto. The Soviet Union has tabled a resolution calling for Mr Hammarskjold’s dismissal and also urging that the United Nations operation in the former Belgian colony be wound up within a month.

In addition to the threePower resolution, the council must also consider a report from the United Nations Conciliation Commission, a plan outlined by Ghana’s President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and the latest report from Mr Dayal.