'No Rhodesian peace without justice’

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32977, 25 July 1972, Page 14

'No Rhodesian peace without justice’

“There will not be peace in Rhodesia until there is justice,” said Mrs S. Salisbury, sister of former Rhodesian Prime Minister, Mr Garfield Todd, in Christchurch last evening.

"The Africans provide a cheap labour force and this is what the Europeans want to retain at all cost. But to retain it there must be white supremacy. The Europeans seem to forget that we’re in an age when empire-building is right out,” Mrs Salisbury told about 40 persons at a

meeting of the Christchurch branch of the United Nations Association.

Mrs Salisbury, of Oamaru, recently returned to New Zealand after spending seven weeks in Rhodesia, where Mr Todd and his daughter Judith were detained at Mr Todd’s farm for five months, after a period of five weeks in prison.

Mrs Salisbury said that she was "delighted and relieved” to learn that 10 days ago Miss Todd was granted Sermission to leave the Todd omestead, though if she returned she would be detained again. The Todds were in no way connected with any riots. Violence was against their ideals, yet Mr lan Smith, the Prime Minister, had assured the television interviewer, David Frost, that they had been arrested for inciting a riot — and Mr Smith was quite sure that criminal charges would be brought against them, said Mrs Salisbury.

“There is not one shred of evidence to show that the Government was justified in imprisoning them,” she said. When they were released from prison Mr Todd was very thin and listless and Miss Todd suffered from nightmares as a result of being force-fed during her eight-day hunger strike, said Mrs Salisbury.

There was still hope for a peaceful settlement in Rhodesia. The only hope lay in having round the table discussions between Mr Smith and the Africans. There was a very large group of educated Africans well-prepared to take a more active part in politics. If the white Rhodesians ignored them then they were "just asking for trouble,” said Mrs Salisbury.

"The political awareness of the Africans is increasing, and it’s too late to be stopped. The Europeans don’t seem to realise this,” she said.