§ Sir Eldon GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why Mr. H. C. Barnes, a constituent of the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds, has received no replies to his inquiries of 28 February and 7 April concerning the death of Miss Valerie Howell in Zimbabwe; and what disposition has been, or is being, made of the late Miss Howell's effects.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAs the inquiries to which my hon. Friend refers were addressed to the authorities of another sovereign state, of which Miss Howell was a citizen, I am not in a position to explain the absence of replies.
I have no information about the disposition of her effects. This could best be pursued through legal channels in Zimbabwe and details of local lawyers have been sent to Mr. Barnes.
§ Sir Eldon GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received from the high commission in Zimbabwe about the murder in October 1990 of a British citizen, Valerie Howell, in the area of Northwood, Harare; and if Her Majesty's consul in Harare has been in contact with the Zimbabwean CID in respect of its investigations and undertaking to report via the Zimbabwean high commission in London to the late Miss Howell's relative Mr. H. C. Barnes, a constituent of the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAs a Zimbabwe/British dual national who had made a form of renunciation of British nationality to the Zimbabwe authorities, in Zimbabwe law the late Miss Howell was a Zimbabwe citizen only. Under international convention Her Majesty's consul in Harare has no standing to receive or request information about matters relating to her.
The High Commission in Harare is aware only that Miss Howell died at her home in Zimbabwe on 27 October 1990 and that murder was suspected.