PROTEST IGNORED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22398, 20 April 1936, Page 9

PROTEST IGNORED

RED CROSS BOMBINGS BRITISH DOCTORS ROUSED - NOTE TO AMBASSADOR By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyrieht (Received April! 19, 6.5 p.m.) LONDON, April 18 Four hundred British doctors, including many distinguished ones, sent a memorandum to the Italian Ambassador, Signor Grandi, protesting against the repeated bombings of the Red Cross by Italians in Abyssinia. The memorandum said that the medical profession did not assume [ and did not claim immunity from the risks of war, but the indignation of members lies far deeper, as the wounded and their attendants have long been considered to be in sanctuary under the Red Cross. Signor Grandi completely ignored the memorandum. ITALIAN STATEMENTS FACTS, AGAINST ACCEPTANCE BOMBING INCIDENTS PROVED British "Wireless RUGBY, April 17 Correspondence between the British and Italian Governments regarding bombing by Italian military aircraft of the British Red Cross in Ethiopia is published as a White Paper. An Italian aide memoire, based on reports from Marshal Badoglio, seeks to identify the bombed British ambulance unit with an encampment from which, it alleges, reconnoitring Italian aircraft were fired upon on March 3 and 4, after which., upon the latter date, it is admitted that the Italians proceeded to bombard the camp. It is claimed that dense smoke which arose confirmed the suspected existence of a munition dump in the camp. The Italian Government accordingly protests energetically against most grave, repeated and flagrant violations of the fundamental principles of the Geneva Convention.

The British Note states that the Government, after carefully considering the above statements and comparing them with reports furnished by medical officers in charge of the ambulance, cannot accept the Italian version of the facts as having any relation to what actually occurred.

Further, the British Note states that warnings of the presence of a British unit on the northern front were communicated to the Italian authorities in advance, and precautions were taken by the chief medical officer in charge to maintain the unit at a proper distance from the Ethiopian military encampments and to display Red Cross emblems clearly. Also the Note repeats the accounts furnished by Dr. Melly of the deliberate bombing of his Red Cross lorries on March 3, and of his camp on March 4. The British Note rejects the attempt of the Italian Government to justify the attack under Article 7 of the Red Cross Convention, firstly, because the facts put forward in justification of the attack are incorrect; and, secondly, because even if they were correct they would not, in the view of the British Government, constitute any valid, legal defence for the action of the Italian Air Force.

Further, Britain makes a request for a categorical assurance that clear and definite instructions! will be issued to the Italian military authorities in Ethiopia to prevent a repetition of attacks on British Red Cross units. In conclusion the Note reserves the right of the British Government, at the appropriate time and in an appropriate manner, to claim compensation for heavy material losses suffered by the British ambulance service in Ethiopia. "INHUMAN POLICY" MUSSOLINI ON SANCTIONS SABOTAGING VICTORY ROME. April 17 Signor Mussolini, in an article jn II Popolo d'ltalia, states: " The most gigantic colonial expedition in the ■whole of history is approaching its end. in spite of the inhuman policy of sanctions. supporters of which now are openly trying to sabotage our victory. " It is the piratical face of the Versailles Treaty that is reappearing, but the infamy of 1919 will not be repeated. Our triumph will not be mutilated. " The victory against Abyssinia which has been won at the cost of blood, gold and strenuous resistance, is the victory of the whole Italian people. It is sacred, inviolable and intangible." ' \ DELAY BY GENEVA HAILI SELASSIE COMPLAINS FIRMER ACTION DEMANDED GENEVA, April 17 The Emperor of Ethiopia, Haih Selassie, has telegraphed to the League of Nations denouncing Italy's refusal to fulfil her promise to negotiate peace within the framework of the League and the spirit of the Covenant. He declares that Ethiopia has vainly waited seven months for the League to end Italian aggression. The Emperor claims that the existing sanctions have proved inefficient and says the delay in applying additional sanctions has allowed the enemy to carry out, unpunished, violent breaches of the laws of war. Ethiopia has the right to ask whether collective security is a dead letter. In the meanwhile, she insists upon her right to ask the member States to take immediate measures to stop the invasion, and adds that Ethiopia is still resolved to expel the aggressor. An Abyssinian Note alleges that Italian airmen, flying over Addis Ababa this morning, machine-gunned the city, although it is an open town and therefore protected by an international protocol to which Italy is signatory. It is reported that a coloured smoke bomb thrown from an aeroplane on the capital badly burned a woman. The pilot also machine-gunned the Imperial Palace, after which 100 bullets, apparently dum-dums, were picked up. It is stated that the Abyssinians did not fire at the aeroplanes.