HC Deb 08 February 1961 vol 634 cc399-404
The Lord Privy Seal (Mr. Edward Heath)

With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I wish to make a statement about the three Bahraini prisoners detained on St. Helena.

Since I made my statement on 30th January, there have been certain developments.

On 1st February, the Governor of St. Helena received a long letter dated 31st January, the full text of which became available to me only last night, from one of the prisoners, Abdul Rahman al Bakar. In this letter, Abdul Rahman al Bakar informed the Governor that, on 21st January, he had sent a telegram on behalf of all three prisoners to their solicitor telling him that they did not wish him to take any further legal procedings. He expressed surprise that I had not received this information before I made my statement in the House of Commons on 30th January, an account of which he had heard that night in a B.B.C. Arabic broadcast. He also referred to the fact that on 2nd January, he had told his solicitor on the telephone—and I quote his words: I prefer to be transferred to Bahrain prison and he [that is, the solicitor] need not to be worried about my position there, which I am quite sure there will not be any danger what-sover to me. In the letter Abdul Rahman al Bakar then made a strong plea to be transferred to Bahrain prison. Attached to the letter were two messages, one to Her Majesty's Government and the other to the Ruler of Bahrain, which he asked the Governor to forward. He also asked for the Governor's help in getting him moved from St. Helena as soon as possible as a lonely person who had not seen his family for four years.

The message to Her Majesty's Government, after saying that the prisoners' solicitors had been instructed ten days previously to avoid further legal proceedings, appealed for al Bakar's transfer to Bahrain prison immediately.

The message to the Ruler of Bahrain has been passed to him.

It was therefore clear that all three prisoners had requested that no further legal proceedings should be taken in their name. Abdul Rahman al Bakar had also asked that he should be returned to Bahrain, but the views of the other two prisoners in this respect were not stated. The Governor was therefore instructed to interview the other two prisoners in order to ascertain whether they wished to complete their sentences in St. Helena or in Bahrain. This he did on 5th February in the presence of Major Strong, who in 1959 attended as "prisoner's friend" when Abdul Rahman al Bakar applied for a writ of Habeas Corpus. Both replied that if they were not to be released they would prefer to be returned to Bahrain.

I am passing all this information to the solicitors who have been acting for the prisoners.

The next steps to be taken are under consideration.

Mr. Healey

Is the Lord Privy Seal satisfied that this is a voluntary decision by the men concerned, taken in the full knowledge of all the relevant circumstances? If he can give an affirmative answer to that question, I think that all of us on both sides of the House will welcome the fact that the Government are to be relieved of a repugnant responsibility which, in the view of many of us, they should never have undertaken and which has been profoundly embarrassing to our political position throughout the Middle East. Has he had any reply to the second request which he promised to address to the Ruler of Bahrain that clemency should be granted to these men?

Mr. Heath

I am completely satisfied that the letter from al Bakar is an entirely voluntary document and that it was written as a result of what he heard on the B.B.C. broadcast of the statement which I made to the House. To the best of my knowledge, it was made in the full knowledge of the facts. He has had a full opportunity, by both telephone and telegram, as well as by letter, to be in communication with his solicitor. I thank the hon. Member for his remarks about finding a settlement to this problem. As for his last question, as I have told him previously, that must be a matter entirely for the Ruler of Bahrain.

Mr. Storehouse

Is the Minister aware that his statement is a shocking statement and an unwarranted interference in the relations between three political prisoners and their solicitors? Is he aware that they have had no opportunity of consulting their solicitors about the developments in their case and that they have been subject, as his statement confirms, to psychological intimidation? Will he give an opportunity for the men's solicitors to proceed to St. Helena? As he knows, it is an almost inaccessible island, taking about two weeks to reach. Will he arrange for the solicitors to be granted facilities to visit St. Helena in order that the three political prisoners may have the full opportunity of objective advice?

Mr. Heath

I completely and absolutely reject that statement. When the Government receive messages from the prisoners—which al Bakar had asked the Governor specifically in a letter to forward to them—they are bound to give the utmost consideration to them.

Mr. G. Brown

Whatever the Lord Privy Seal said to the Ruler of Bahrain, will he ask the Ruler whether he is ready to answer the appeal which I certainly made to him to exercise clemency, as I regard four years' imprisonment as more than a just penalty for the crime which they committed'7 Will he ask the Ruler to let the men out?

Mr. Heath

I recognise the action which the right hon. Gentleman took in his conversations with the Ruler of Bahrain, and I am sure that the Ruler would be prepared to answer any questions which the right hon. Gentleman put to him. I think that the right hon. Gentleman recognises that my conversations with the Ruler must remain confidential.

Mr. Thorpe

Will the Minister say whether the discussions which took place on 2nd January, when al Bakar indicated that he wished transferance, took place between an English solicitor and the convicted men on St. Helena? What were the circumstances in which that discussion took place? Is it not somewhat serious that this firm of solicitors, who were apparently in possession of this information, delayed nearly a month before that information reached the Government, the Governor of St. Helena and the House? Is not this somewhat less than frank on the part of the firm? When the right hon. Gentleman says that the next steps are under consideration, may I ask whether they include a representation to the Ruler that clemency be exercised in this case, as has been happening in other parts of the Middle East recently? Finally, will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that this is a precedent which we hope will not be followed by this country becoming a common jailor for other nations and locking up their prisoners?

Mr. Heath

The hon. Member asks about the circumstances of the conversation on 2nd January. I have only the letter from al Bakar to the Governor in which he states that this telephone conversation took place. As it is a matter between the prisoner and his legal adviser, it is not one in which the Governor or the Government have any status whatever. That is why I rejected the accusation of the hon. Member for Wednesbury (Mr. Stonehouse) that there had been any interference of any kind in this confidential relationship.

The hon. Member asks for the reasons why the solicitors have not given us this information. This is a matter for them. I merely stated the information which we have been given direct from the prisoners. Hon. Members have asked about requests to the Ruler of Bahrain for clemency. As I have informed the House, I discussed this matter with him during the Recess in the light of the debate which had taken place. I think that we should leave it there. Everybody in the House who is anxious that the welfare of these prisoners should be looked after will, I think, take that point of view The future is a matter for events

Sir C. Mott-Radclyffe

In the light of his statement, does my right hon. Friend agree that many allegations made by hon. Members opposite in the debate before Christmas were quite inaccurate and have done quite unnecessary damage to relations between this country and the Ruler of Bahrain?

Mr. E. Fletcher

In view of the confidence which the prisoners apparently have now expressed in the impartiality of the justice of the Ruler of Bahrain, will the Lord Privy Seal give an undertaking to the House that he will repeat to the Ruler of Bahrain the generally felt view that the Ruler should exercise a great measure of clemency in his treatment of these prisoners?

Mr. Heath

I earnestly believe that, if the welfare of these prisoners is to be considered, the matter should be left where I have left it.

Mr. Stonehouse

On a point of order. In view of the wholly unsatisfactory nature of the statement and the misleading information which has been given to the House, I beg to give notice that I shall raise the matter on the earliest possible occasion, either on the Adjournment or on the Consolidated Fund Bill.