§ 51. Mr. S. Silvermanasked the Lord Privy Seal what reports he has received concerning the beating-up of Mr. Patrice Lumumba, in the presence of Swedish troops forming part of the United Nations forces in the Congo, on the occasion of his transfer from the custody of Mr. Mobutu to the custody of Mr. Tshombe.
§ Mr. Heath:The exact details of what happened are not clear, but it appears that the party guarding Mr. Lumumba arrived at the airport at Elisabethville without any prior warning to the United Nations authorities there. The small number of Swedish United Nations troops present were spread over the whole airfield. They were, therefore, not able to intervene when a cordon of local gendarmerie was drawn round the hangar into which the aeroplane taxied. It is not known whether any of these soldiers were near enough to see clearly what passed, but it is reported that Mr. Lumumba and his associates were kicked and beaten whilst they were transferred, presumably inside the hangar, from the aircraft to a jeep, which then left the airfield.
As I have already said, Her Majesty's Government deplore any arbitrary acts of violence and the United Kingdom delegation attempted unsuccessfully to secure a resolution in the Security Council designed to condemn and prevent them.
§ 53. Mrs. Hartasked the Lord Privy Seal what recent proposals have been made by Her Majesty's Government's representative at the United Nations for an immediate and substantial increase in the funds and manpower available to the United Nations forces in the Congo.
§ Mr. Heath:The relevant Security Council resolution places no limit on the discretion given to the Secretary-General to raise a military force for the Congo. The question of financing 71W during 1961 the costs of the United Nations operation in the Congo is due to be decided by the General Assembly when it resumes its session in March.
§ Mr. Brockwayasked the Lord Privy Seal what resolutions on the subject of the Congo were voted on at the General Assembly of the United Nations before its recess over Christmas; and how the British delegation voted in each case.
§ Mr. Heath:Two resolutions dealing with the Congo were put to the vote in the General Assembly on 20th December. The first was sponsored by a group of Afro-Asian member States and by Yugoslavia, and the second was sponsored by the United States and the United Kingdom. Our delegation voted against the first resolution and in favour of the second. Neither resolution was adopted, though that which we sponsored failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority by only one positive vote. The texts of the two resolutions are available in the Library of the House.