§ 8. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is now the number of detainees in Nyasaland; for what reasons they are still being detained; for how long it is proposed to detain them; and by what method they may secure release.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydMy latest information is that 552 Africans are detained. They are being held in order to ensure the maintenance of law and order in the territory and their detention will continue until the Governor is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for this purpose. Detainees may appeal to the Governor or to the Advisory Committee if they consider that they are being unjustly detained.
§ Mr. SwinglerWhat principle of justice now operates in Nyasaland? Is it that the innocent have to prove their innocence, or that the authorities have to prove that the people they detain are guilty? Or do the Government claim arbitrary powers to detain 500 citizens, whether they are guilty or innocent?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydNo, Sir. The principles of justice are those that must obtain in territories where a state of emergency applies and where certain people have to be detained when, in the view of the Governor, they constitute a threat to law and order. As far as possible, people against whom evidence is forthcoming are made the subject of specific charges. I am always very anxious that where people are detained specific charges should be brought, wherever possible, but the House knows that there are difficulties in places where intimidation is widespread. I would remind the House that 300 detainees have been released out of the 850 detained and that this process is continual.
§ Mr. P. WilliamsAre not the regulations and the methods of detention very similar to those which were carried through during the crisis in Malaya?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydYes, Sir. I have the liveliest memories of members of the Socialist Government defending the detention without trial of tens of thousands of people, a fact which is apparently forgotten not only by right hon. Gentlemen opposite but by some of their back benchers now.
§ Mr. CallaghanIs not the real reason why these men are locked up that they combined together in an organisation to secede from the Federation? Did the Colonial Secretary see yesterday the Governor's statement that there is still continued unrest in Nyasaland? How does he propose to get out of this dead-end into which he has got himself?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe reason is not that those men objected to federation. Constitutional objection to federation is perfectly proper. There is a different reason, as the House knows—
§ Mr. CallaghanWe do not know.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThere is actually a threat to law and order, for which people have been detained. I saw the Governor's statement yesterday and I thought it was a very true one.
§ Mr. CallaghanIf it is true, would the Colonial Secretary address himself to the last half of my Question, which was how he proposes to move on from the situation in which disturbance to law and order has existed, certainly since the beginning of the spring, and in which all African leaders of any mettle are locked up while the Africans themselves have no arms to use against the forces of law and order? How does he propose to reconcile that situation?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe Governor did not suggest that the situation had not improved, but he drew attention to the fact that certain tensions still exist. I would not accept the hon. Member's statement of the quality of those leaders who are now detained.