§ Capaira Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what prior information was available to the intelligence and security personnel of Her Majesty's Embassy, Jakarta, indicating the impending sacking of the Embassy in September; why the secret files in the Embassy strongroom were not destroyed before the building was finally evacuated by Her Majesty's Ambassador and his staff; and under what form of British guard the strongroom was put between 30W the time of the evacuation of the Embassy and 23rd September, when Indonesians attempted to break into the strongroom.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerNo prior information was available. The attack on 18th September was mounted with great speed. Because all the windows in the Embassy building had been smashed by rioters two days earlier,there was few obstacles to entry. There was no time to destroy documents; all that could be done before the staff were evacuated by the Indonesian military was to ensure that the strongrooms were properly closed.
From the moment of this attack, Her Majesty's Ambassador made continuous and strenuous efforts to obtain renewed access to the building and to have a guard placed on it; but the Indonesian authorities refused to allow this. These efforts had, therefore, not yet borne fruit when, on September 23rd, Mr. Gilchrist learnt that attempts were being made to enter the strongrooms. He was able to persuade other members of the Diplomatic Corps that a serious breach of international practice was being committed and that they should accompany him to the building, which they were fortunately able to enter. As a result of this and later efforts, Her Majesty's Ambassador re-established control until the papers in the strongrooms had been destroyed under supervision.