The Sharpeville Six (Hansard, 6 July 1988)

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Glenarthur)
My Lords, we have joined in appeals for clemency by foreign ministers of the Twelve on 14th June, by the Security Council on 17th June, and by heads of government at the Toronto Economic Summit on 20th June and at the European Council on 28th June.Recently we have again raised the issue directly with the South African Government.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, I asked the noble Lord what action the Government are taking in the matter. Is the Minister not aware that there have been appeals, representations and diplomatic approaches for many years now and the only result has been increased oppression and brutality by the South African state? Is it the case that at the EC summit in Hanover, which took place a week ago, it was only the British foreign minister who stood out against the desire of the rest of the Twelve to warn the South African Government that if the Sharpeville Six were executed they could expect an increase in economic sanctions against that country and, possibly, also diplomatic sanctions?

§ Lord Glenarthur
My Lords, no: that is not the case. It is not true that the United Kingdom is isolated among the Twelve on the possible response if the six were executed. Our partners in the Twelve are not united on how to respond to what I have to stress to the noble Lord is at present a hypothetical question.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that supplementaries such as those posed by the noble Lord, Lord Hatch, are not very helpful in this context?

§ Lord Glenarthur
My Lords, it is certainly true, as my noble friend suggests, that the legal process as regards the Sharpeville Six is not yet exhausted.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, we fully support the representations made by Her Majesty's Government, in concert with others, from the summits which the Minister has described and also the unilateral representations. Can he say whether there has been any response from the South African Government to those representations? Can he also say a little more about the unilateral action taken by Her Majesty's Government?
Secondly, in view of the petition, or appeal, which is now being made to the chief justice of South Africa against the execution of the Sharpeville Six, can he say what further action Her Majesty's Government will take if the appeal should fail? Would the Prime Minister, who is reputed to have some influence in Pretoria, herself make representations—if necessary, by telephone—to Mr. Botha?

§ Lord Glenarthur
My Lords, the fact is that the stay of execution is in force until 19th July.I understand that defence lawyers lodged a petition on 4th July—to which the noble Lord referred—asking the South African acting chief justice to grant leave to appeal for a retrial. Should the petition be unsuccessful, defence lawyers can then address a fresh appeal to President Botha asking for clemency. Our understanding is that the stay of execution would he extended while the President considered the appeal.
As regards any response to the representations which we have made, those representations have been noted, as the noble Lord will have imagined, by those concerned. Our ambassador raised the issue of the Sharpeville Six bilaterally with the director general of 253 the South African Department of Foreign Affairs on 22nd June and the director general of the South African Department of Justice on 28th June. We have drawn recent statements to the attention of the South African ambassador here.
As regards the future, as I have said, it is hypothetical. However, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister said in another place on 30th June that if the result is that the Sharpeville Six are condemned to death, we shall repeat our call for clemency.

§ Lord Bottomley
My Lords, have the Government considered asking the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Hume and the Chief Rabbi whether they have thought to make joint representations to the South African authorities about the six?

§ Lord Glenarthur
My Lords, I feel quite certain that the universal concern which is felt about the Sharpeville Six will have been well noted by the most reverend Primate.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, I welcome what the Minister has said about the representations that are being made. However, I have to repeat that representations have been made to the South African Government for years.The only consequence has been that they have been ignored and that the oppression has increased.
Is it not the case that in the United States one of the main presidential candidates has described the South African Government as "racist"and the other main candidate has described it as "terrorist"? Both of those terms will imply further measures if either of these gentlemen is elected. Are Her Majesty's Government prepared to remain as the only known friend of the South African apartheid regime when the United States, the EC and the Commonwealth are all pressing for more action and in some cases taking more action—action not words?

§ Lord Glenarthur
My Lords, what the noble Lord fully fails to take account of is the fact that punitive sanctions already imposed have failed to speed up reform. They have reduced external influence and to some extent they have strengthened the right wing. I should have thought that we ought to try to strive to work for peaceful change through dialogue and negotiations, contact, pressure, advocacy, persuasion, dialogue and aid. That is the kind of action that will achieve what the noble Lord wants to see.