Inhumanity’ in Rhodesia

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33061, 31 October 1972, Page 20

Inhumanity’ in Rhodesia

W.Z.P..4. -Reuter —Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 29.

A letter sent to the "Sunday Times” London, by 34 political prisoners in Rhodesia has accused the Smith regime of inflicting “inhuman suffering” on the prisoners and their families.

It charges that the men are being held in close confinement, with food unfit for human consumption, and says that more than one prisoner has contracted tuberculosis. The "Sunday Times” said that the letter had been smuggled out of a Salisbury gaol and a copy had been sent to the Rhodesian Minister of Justice (Mr D. Lard-ner-Burke). The signatories included many who are members of the banned African Nationalist Party (Zanu). The prisoners said they were being kept on scale three of the Rhodesian penal code, which, they said was the lowest scale. Scale three, said the letter, meant that the prisoners were not allowed spoons, towels, pillows, boots, toothbrushes and toothpaste. They must wear shorts all the year round, and their mail was heavily censored. The "Sunday Times” said the signatures on the letter were all original, and several had been verified in London. Since the letter, most of the prisoners had been shifted to other prisons or camps it said.