HC Deb 13 July 1978 vol 953 cc771-2W
Mr. Lee

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, in the light of the Umtali massacre, he will consider the making of compensation payments to the relatives and dependants of unarmed British citizens killed in the course of the guerrilla war in Rhodesia on the lines of compensation paid to innocent victims of violence in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Rowlands

I regret that this is not possible.

Mr. Lee

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek the assistance of the United Nations in inquiring into the responsibility for the Vumba massacre in Rhodesia.

Mr. Rowlands

My right hon. Friend does not consider that this would be practicable. We have therefore decided, as I told the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Griffiths) on 3rd July—[Vol. 953, c.85]—to offer assistance to the Elim Pentecostal Church to enable it to employ its own independent expert advisers at the inquest.

Mr. Lee

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give an undertaking that those responsible for the Vumba massacre if identified and captured will be brought to trial and that a decision not to prosecute the murderers will not form part of any political settlement of the Rhodesian problem.

Mr. Rowlands

My right hon. Friend has said that he hopes that those responsible for this outrage will be caught and put on trial.