HC Deb 03 December 1952 vol 508 cc1544-6
17. Mr. Hector Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, of those persons in Kenya who have been arrested, screened and not released to date, how many are being, and will be, charged with and tried for crimes; with what crimes they will be charged, respectively; and what provision is being made for their defence by trained lawyers in sufficient time to enable their defences to be fully and fairly presented.

44. Mr. Fenner Brockway

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many persons in Kenya have been arrested for screening purposes since the emergency laws came into force; and how many have been subsequently detained or charged.

Mr. Lyttelton

About 13,000 persons were detained after initial screening. Two thousand were released because there was insufficient evidence against them. Criminal charges have been brought or are pending against the remainder, of whom over 5,000 have been tried and convicted or acquitted.

Every facility is afforded to persons in police custody to consult advocates and contact witnesses.

In addition to those detained after initial screening 183 persons are detained under emergency regulations, of whom 41 were handed over by the Tanganyika Government. Of these six have so far been charged with criminal offences and are now on trial.

I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the charges made and of the conditions under which these persons are detained.

Mr. Hughes

Is the Minister aware that he has not answered the last part of my Question about facilities for defence? Does he agree—as I feel sure he does—that, especially in an emergency like the present emergency in Kenya, it is essential to inspire Africans with respect for law and order, and for that purpose not only should justice be actually and scrupulously done but it should appear to be done? Will he see that adequate facilities are offered to the accused persons for defence by trained lawyers?

Mr. Lyttelton

I have already answered that question. Adequate facilities for accused persons are available.

Mr. Fenner Brockway

Perhaps I did not hear the right hon. Gentleman, but I thought he did not give the number of persons who had been rounded up for screening purposes. Could he give that figure?

Mr. Lyttelton

I have not those figures. I have asked for them, but I do not think they can be obtained. The 13,000 persons to whom I referred were detained after initial screening, but I have not the figures for the initial screening.

Sir W. Smithers

Would my right hon. Friend consider sending out the hon. and learned Member for Aberdeen, North (Mr. Hector Hughes) to defend those people and thus serve a dual purpose of defending these natives and ridding the House of one witch doctor for a few weeks?

Mr. J. Griffiths

On a point of order. May I call attention to the fact that the hon. Member for Orpington (Sir W. Smithers) called one of my hon. Friends a witch doctor?

Mr. Speaker

I did not hear that myself, and I should have been doubtful what interpretation to place upon it if I had.

Mr. Griffiths

Would it not be out of order if it applied to the hon. and learned Gentleman as being a witch without being a doctor?

Mr. Hughes

I might object to the imputation coming from any other source, but I have nothing but the utmost contempt for the source from which it did come.

Mr. Lee

Is the right hon. Gentleman yet in a position to give the House any information about the reports from Nairobi now on the tape machine that seven Africans have been killed and eight wounded in a recent raid by the police in Kenya?

Mr. Lyttelton

I am not in position to make any statement.

Mr. Rankin

I understood the right hon. Gentleman to say that 5,000 Africans had been tried. Could he say whether these were all individual trials, or were there any mass trials?

Mr. Lyttelton

They have been tried and either acquitted or convicted under the usual processes of law.

Following is the information:

Charges made or pending are as follows:
(a) Murder or attempted murder 102
(b) Administering or consenting to unlawful oaths 485
(c) Managing or being members of unlawful society 176
(d) Offences against the person 245
(e) Offences against property 1,251
(f) Other penal offences, including escaping 818
(g) Local and special law offences 7,896

These persons are in custody in various prisons and police stations throughout the Colony Every person detained in police custody is provided with adequate sleeping accommodation and is not called upon to do any work other than clean the cell and bedding. Each is exercised daily and none is manacled while detained. A morning and evening meal are provided and blankets are issued at night. Persons in prison are in custody under the usual conditions, as laid down in the Police Ordinance. Persons detained under emergency regulations are held in conditions similar to those of judgment debtors, except that rations are issued free.