RHODESIAN ELECTIONS (Hansard, 20 February 1980)

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, I beg leave to ask Her Majesty's Government the Question of which I have given Private Notice. The Question is as follows:

§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS (Lord Carrington)
My Lords, the situation has not changed substantially since the Statement by my noble friend Lord Trefgarne on 13th February. Elections on the white voters' roll took place on 14th February. The Governor is continuing his consultations with party leaders with the aim of stemming political intimidation which is making it extremely difficult for the majority of parties to campaign in certain areas. Although there have been a disturbing number of violent incidents, the total number of casualties since cease-fire day is less than frequently occurred in a single week previously. Investigations are being pursued into a number of incidents, including the bombings in Salisbury on the night of 14th February.
My Lords, 540 volunteers from the police will travel to Salisbury this weekend to reinforce the supervision of polling stations. We are grateful for the splendid response from the volunteers, and are sure that their presence will make a material contribution to the prevention of intimidation at the polls.

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for making that Statement to the House. May I ask him whether he is aware that we on this side of the House, and I am sure the entire House, strongly support the Governor in his efforts to prevent political intimidation in Rhodesia, and his action in consulting the party leaders in Rhodesia for that purpose? We feel that it is in the interests of the party leaders and the parties in Rhodesia that this should be done, and certainly in the interests of the Rhodesian people as a whole. We entirely agree that investigations into the identity of those responsible for actions of violence, particularly at this time, including the bombings in Salisbury on the night of 14th February, should be pursued with vigour. We also greatly appreciate the action of the 540 members of our own police force in volunteering for duty as polling station supervisors, but we still feel that it is even more necessary to strengthen the forces which will preserve order between now and polling day.

§ Lord CARRINGTON
My Lords, I am glad that the noble Lord said what he did 746 about intimidation. It seems to me that my noble friend Lord Soames, in a very difficult situation, is being very unfairly criticised. He is doing his level best to see that there are free and fair elections in Rhodesia, and it is certainly the intention of Her Majesty's Government here to give him all the aid that we possibly can.

§ Lord GLADWYN
My Lords, while, naturally, we would associate ourselves with what the Foreign Secretary has just said about the desirability of supporting Lord Soames in the action he has taken to cope with the dreadful situation with which he is confronted, we should like nevertheless to associate ourselves, broadly speaking, with what the noble Lord, Lord Goronwy-Roberts, has said. More especially, I should like to ask this question, if I may: if the inquiry into the recent incident when two members of the Rhodesian Army were apparently blown up opposite a church results in it being established that they were members of the Selons Scouts engaged in planting a bomb, what action will the Governor be expected to take?

§ Lord CARRINGTON
My Lords, this really is a matter for the Governor. When you ask somebody of the distinction of my noble friend to go to Rhodesia with the powers of a Governor to administer a country in the situation in which Rhodesia now finds itself, it really must be up to him to decide what to do.

§ Lord STEWART of FULHAM
My Lords, has the noble Lord noticed that some of those reports recently appearing in the media suggest very strongly that several of these acts of terrorism have been carried out by those who are called auxiliaries, or members of the security forces, and that they seem to be intended either to injure the supporters of Mr. Mugabe or to discredit him? Can the noble Lord comment on that aspect of the matter?

§ Lord CARRINGTON
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Soames has made a particular point of seeing that the auxiliaries are monitored, and he is satisfied that where they went wrong there has been punishment or dismissal. The fact of the matter is rather the reverse coin of what the noble Lord is saying. Most of the intimidation is coming from Zanla, from 747 Mr. Mugabe's forces, which have not assembled in the assembly areas. Of course, if they have not assembled in the assembly areas it is impossible to monitor them, and that, very largely, is where the intimidation is coming from, though all parties have in some cases been guilty.

§ Lord AVEBURY
My Lords, is the Foreign Secretary satisfied that the Governor has the resources to deal with the intimidation which undoubtedly exists, and to receive proper information about the nature and the scale of the intimidation, instead of having to depend on sources which may not be altogether unbiased? Has the Foreign Secretary noticed, for instance, that reports were received from certain areas of the country via the existing authorities that no meetings were able to take place except those of Mr. Mugabe's party, and yet when the journalists went to these regions to check it they found that meetings of other parties had taken place in a perfectly normal manner? Therefore, does this not indicate that the Governor is receiving false information from the people on the spot, and that he needs further backing from this country?

§ Lord CARRINGTON
No, my Lords. I think that my noble friend has the resources to find out what is happening in the country. The first question which the noble Lord asked me, which was whether my noble friend had the resources to deal with intimidation, is much more difficult to answer because it is extremely difficult to know what to do about intimidation. But I am absolutely satisfied that my noble friend has the information. What he is seeking to do, either by ordinance or by speaking to the leaders of the political parties before the election, which is now only a week ahead, is to achieve what he can within the limits of his power to do away with that intimidation.