Aid Movement’s Statement On Executions In Rhodesia

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31627, 13 March 1968, Page 7

Aid Movement’s Statement On Executions In Rhodesia

The following statement on the executions in Rhodesia has been received from Lieu-tenant-Colonel A. C. R. Elderton, president of the Aid Rhodesia Movement (N.Z.): — “In view of the one-sided Reports and British versions of the current executions of Africans in Rhodesia, it is essential that the New Zealand public be made aware of the full facts, and the implications behind the political moves of the British Government

“First quite irrespective of U.D.1., Rhodesia is a selfgoverning country within the Commonwealth. She has never in any way, or at any time, been under the Colonial Office in London. Ever since 1890, Rhodesians have been solely responsible for the development of their country. Britain has never governed Rhodesia; nor has the British Parliament ever borne any responsibility to its electorate for the conduct of Rhodesian affairs. The control by the British Government over Rhodesia is, or was, purely of a technical nature connected with international financial commitments and certain outside treaty obligations. Since U.D.1., of course, these technical restrictions or controls no longer exist. “The executions in Salisbury on March 6 of three Africans were for crimes committed before U.D.L, when the Rhodesian Government, under the 1961 Constitution, was fully recognised by the British Government The crimes were premeditated murder, of the most bestial nature. Two of the Africans killed a Mr Oberholzer in front of his wife, death following 16 stabbings and four fractures of the skull. The third African murdered a chief, through the agency of a petrol bomb. “All three Africans were members of organisations headed by two Africans, Messrs Nkomo and Sithole. These organisations were largely financed and influenced by Communist and proCommunist sources outside Rhodesia. The aims of these organisations were to kill all leaders and representatives of the people, both black and white, with the inevitable collapse of law and order. This would introduce the climate which is an essential ingredient for a hand-over by the British Government to socalled national leaders. “No Jurisdiction”

“The Rhodesian High Court ruling that the executions of these three Africans would be legal is in full accordance with the constitution. If the

legal and de facto government of a country is not permitted to maintain law and order to protect its people from the activities of thugs, where do things begin and where do they end? The Minister in the British Government who advised and recommended the Queen to reprieve these three Africans had no jurisdiction to do so, and his use of the Queen for political purposes is deplorable, to say the least, and the worst form of political immorality. “The action of Mr Wilson and his Ministers in using the lives of these three Africans as pawns in his game should and will be treated with disgust and contempt. There is, o f course, probably more than this in the arrangements for the reprieves; it is not beyond possibility that this matter has been used as a distraction to the unpopularity in the Commonwealth of British Government legislation to keep Asians with British passports out of Britain. One thing, however, is certain. Mr Wilson’s activities are not for the good of Rhodesia and Rhodesians, but only as sops for African leaders, both Communist and otherwise. Nature Of Crimes

“Further executions for crimes committed since U.D.I are sure to follow, under the authority of the 1965 Constitution, which to all intents and purposes is the same as the 1961 Constitution. The executions will be for crimes committed against security forces, etc.; for example, the recent killing of a European and three Askaris. These terrorists can consist of Algerians from North Africa, Africans from Zambia, Zanzibar. and Tanzania, indoctrinated with Communist theories and trained in military camps in these countries by Chinese instructors: and Rhodesian youths inveigled out of Rhodesia

“These youths are promised by terrorist leaders, sitting pretty in Zambia, that they will be given a university education for which they cannot qualify in Rhodesia. On arrival in Zambia, they find the university is a terrorist training camp where refusal to obey orders earns 20 strokes with a sjambok. Needless to say, they obey orders. The Rhodesians have informed these unfortunate youngsters, through radio and leaflets, that if, on entering Rhodesia, they abandon their arms and surrender to the security forces, their case will receive favourable consideration. The large majority are doing just this. It is only those hard-core cases who

enter Rhodesia and wantonly kill anyone who gets in their way who receive the full weight of the law, and deservedly so. Aid To Zambia “The Rhodesians have exonerated the Queen from any blame for the so-called reprieves. The blame for this episode must rest fair and square on the shoulders of Mr Wilson and his confreres. The British Government has not only, despite requests from the Rhodesians, refused to condemn terrorist atrocities in Rhodesia, but has condoned and even supported terrorist infiltration into Rhodesia This has been done by massive financial assistance to the Zambian Government, the supply of military material and the presentation of broadcasting equipment, along with the necessary technicians. This assistance has enabled the Zambian Broadcasting Service to broadcast for many hours every day appeals to black Africans to kill all those Rhodesians, both black and white, holding responsible positions. “Mr Wilson has now begun to reap what he has sown, but the tragedy is that it is the African man in the village who is paying the price.”