§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal (1) whether he will publish the text of President Tshombe's proposal of the 13th December, 1962, to the United Nations' Secretary General; and why, and, at whose instance, this proposal for the application of the Thant Plan was kept secret;
(2) what reply was made by the United Nations' Secretary General to President Tshombe's proposal of 13th December, 1962, for the application of his plan.
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§ Mr. P. ThomasHer Majesty's Government are not empowered to publish the texts of M. Tshombe's proposal or of the Secretary General's reply. The proposal has since been the subject of confidential negotiations in Leopoldville, the results of which are not yet available.
§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal whether he will publish the texts of the respective communiqués of the United Nations and the Katanga Government regarding the firing at Elisabethville, Lubumbashi and Kimbemba on 27th December, 1962.
§ Mr. P. ThomasThe texts of the Katangan communiqué and of the United Nations statement on the hostilities have been placed in the Library.
§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal what inquiry has been made, disciplinary action taken, and compensation paid or promised in respect of United Nations mortar bombardment of the African townships of Albert and Kenya and of the Lubumbashi hospital, causing civilian casualties in both cases, and in respect of the shooting by Ethiopian troops of the wife of an employee of the Union Minière and by Indian troops of two Belgian ladies at Jadotville.
§ Mr. P. ThomasAlthough damage and casualties are unhappily bound to occur in the course of hostilities such as those which have taken place in and around Elisabethville, I have had no specific reports of losses resulting from mortar fire. The United Nations have ordered immediate official inquiries into the incidents involving the deaths of the three women.
§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal why, in view of the United Nations responsibility for law and order in the Congo, a United Nations broadcast of the 29th December, 1962, appealed to the Katangan gendarmerie to mutiny and join United Nations forces in the liberation of the whole Congo.
§ Mr. P. ThomasThe United Nations made two appeals to the Katangan gendarmerie to stop the fight and join them. There was no specific incitement to mutiny or violence against their own officers.
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§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal under what United Nations' resolutions and directives the recent United Nations offensive in Katanga was undertaken; what orders the United Nations' Secretary General or his representative gave the military commander; why these orders excluded the capture of Jadotville; why despite such order Jadotville was captured; and what was the nature of the break-down of United Nations communications.
§ Mr. P. ThomasAccounts of the origin of the hostilities which broke out on 27th December differ. The United Nations stated that they were fired on for several hours by the Katanga gendarmerie before taking measures in self-defence. The right to use force in self-defence is covered by United Nations resolutions. The precise nature of the orders given to the military commander is not known. But the United Nations have stated that the occupation of Jadotville was not intended at the time when it took place, and that it resulted from a break-down of communications. Since then Dr. Ralph Bunche has submitted a report to the Secretary-General on the nature of this break-down. The report states that it resulted from a serious malfunctioning of the machinery of inter-communication.
§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal what estimate has been made of the cost of the United Nations military operations against Katanga from 27th December, 1962; and whether he will give an assurance that the United Kingdom will make no additional funds available for operations intended to impose a settlement by force of the Katanga question.
§ Mr. P. ThomasNo estimate has been made of the cost of the latest operations. No assessments for the Congo operation have been made since July, 1962, and the operation is being financed by the sale of bonds. Her Majesty's Government have already paid for the bonds which they agreed last February to buy.
§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal what is the latest estimate of military and of civilian casualties on both sides in the United Nations operations in Katanga.
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§ Mr. P. ThomasNo official estimates have been issued of military or civilian casualties on either side during the recent hostilities, but they are understood to have been relatively light.
§ Dr. D. Johnsonasked the Lord Privy Seal why Great Britain has not used the right of veto at the Security Council of the United Nations with a view to preventing the repetition of inhumanities against the civilian population which occurred during the recent fighting in the Congo.
§ Mr. P. ThomasThe Security Council has not discussed the Congo since November, 1961, and the use of the veto has not therefore arisen.
§ Dr. D. Johnsonasked the Lord Privy Seal what action was taken by the British Government subsequent to the statement of the Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Foreign Office in the Adjournment debate of 22nd March, 1961, deploring the lack of control over the United Nations troops in the Congo, with a view to ensuring that there was an adequate chain of responsibility in the command of such troops prior to any further military action.
§ Mr. P. ThomasThe United Nations chain of command, and the control of troops in the Congo, has been discussed in the course of the constant contacts which the United Kingdom Mission in New York maintains with the Secretariat.
§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Lord Privy Seal why the United Kingdom did not raise with the United Nations Security Council as a threat to peace the sending of a United States military mission, and of United States military equipment for use against Katanga.
§ Mr. P. ThomasI understand that the aim of this mission was to improve the efficiency of the United Nations force as a whole. I cannot accept the suggestion that it constituted a threat to peace.