HC Deb 22 October 1952 vol 505 cc1001-3
38. Mr. Edelman

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what further disturbances have taken place in prisoner-of-war camps in Korea since 1st August, 1952; and what British troops have been involved.

Mr. Nutting

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Maldon (Mr. Driberg) on 15th October.

Mr. Edelman

Is there not something repugnant in men without firearms, however obstreperous they may be, being shot down in this manner? Is it not the case that during the Second World War no comparable incidents occurred in prisoner-of-war camps controlled by British troops? Could not similar methods be applied in Korea?

Mr. Nutting

As my right hon. Friend said in answer to the hon. Member for Maldon last Wednesday, we have not yet received the report of the United Nations commander on the spot, and I should prefer not to make any statement or draw any conclusion until that report is received.

51. Mr. S. O. Davies

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what information he has received from the United Nations Organisation on the casualties caused on 1st October to Korean prisoners of war on the Island of Cheju.

Mr. Nutting

The report of the United Nations Command investigation has not yet been received. In point of fact the prisoners concerned in the Cheju incident on 1st October referred to by the hon. Gentleman were Chinese, not Koreans.

Mr. Davies

Are not the hon. Gentleman and the Foreign Office aware by this afternoon that the prisoners on this island who were massacred on 1st October had been placed there because they were regarded as being co-operative and anti-Communist and any attempt to repatriate them to North Korea or China would have meant mass suicides among these people? Cannot we get an explanation of this large scale murder of prisoners of war on 1st October?

Mr. Nutting

As I told the hon. Member, the Report of the United Nations Command investigation has not yet been received. The House was told by my right hon. Friend last Wednesday that we understand that the prisoners involved in this compound were prisoners who elected to be repatriated and, therefore, can be presumed at any rate not to be anti-Communist.

Mr. S. Silverman

Can the hon. Gentleman tell us what steps have been taken since last this matter was before the House to expedite the receipt in this country of any report that we may be entitled to have as to what actually occurred on 1st October in this place?

Does he not realise that as partners in this adventure we have a responsibility ourselves, and that there is great anxiety felt in this country among people who do not accept my particular ideas about it regarding the enormity of shooting down unarmed prisoners merely on the ground that they would not stop singing their own national songs on their own national day? If that is the whole of the truth, is it not in everyone's interest that we should know the full facts as early as possible?

Mr. Nutting

We have asked our Embassy in Washington to let us have this report directly it is available.