LIGN AND CO THUNWCALEN
5 AUG 1974
ALLOCATIONS SESTION
Bik
Inte opp.
amnesty international
International Secretariat
53 Theobald's Road
London WC1X 8SP
195 HKLOD
Telephone: 01-404 5831 Telegrams: Amnesty London
CH/mg
braft reply
The Rt.Hon.James Callaghan
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW 1
CHIVED
for Lord Goromney Roberts pse
REGISON No.52
- 7 AUG 1974
1st August 1974
578
!
Dear Foreign Secretary,
MICK14/5
We have received news that fourteen of the 118 South Vietnamese deported to Saigon from Hong Kong on June 17 have died in Con Son Prison. The reports also stated that a four-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy were amongst the fourteen and that most of them allegedly died from illness and 'injuries.'
Amnesty International is deeply shocked and disturbed
by these reports, especially after the British and Hong Kong governments had placed great stress on the assurances given by the Saigon authorities that the deported 118 South Vietnamese would not be "severely dealt with". The reports also said that 25 men of military age, who are believed to be conscientious objectors, have been ordered to join front-line units without training in one of South Vietnam's heaviest fighting zones.
At a meeting with Lord Goronwy-Roberts on 12th June, I appealed to the British Government to delay any decision to deport these refugees pending a review of each individual case on humanitarian grounds, to determine whether granting asylum in Hong Kong or elsewhere was justified. Lord Goronwy-Roberts assured me that Her Majesty's Government had received solemn assurances from the Saigon authorities that the deported South Vietnamese refugees would be leniently dealt with in Saigon. In a letter to the Governor of Hong Kong dated 20th June, I urged him to ensure that such assurances would be observed by the Saigon authorities.
In violation of the solemn assurances given to the British and Hong Kong Governments, the 118 deported South Vietnamese were arrested on their arrival in Saigon and, according to a reliable source, they were "savagely beaten" and transferred to Con Son Prison Island.
The reported deaths of fourteen of these refugees only serve: to underline the tragedy and human sufferings of the deported South Vietnamese and their relatives. Amnesty International believes that the British and Hong Kong Governments have a clear duty to initiate an urgent and impartial international enquiry into allegations of injuries inflicted on these people, and to investigate the circumstances surrounding the reported deaths of fourteen of them.
..../.....
Chairman of the International Executive: SEAN MACBRIDE, S.C. Secretary General: MARTIN ENNALS
.
•
+
PATRONS: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Great Britain Roger Baldwin, President of the International League for the Rights of Man, U.S.A. Danilo Dolci, Sicily Professor Erich Fromm, New York and Mexico
Jean-Flavien Lalive, Switzer- Lt.-Gen. Sir Brian Horrocks, Great Britain land Professor Salvador de Madariaga, Spain Yehudi Menuhin, Great Britain.
Alan Paton, South Professor Gunnar Myrdal, Sweden Africa⚫ Dr. Martin Niemöller, Germany Sean MacBride, S.C., Ireland Professor Giorgio La Pira, Italy · Professor Julius Stone, Australia
: UNESCO : AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HAS CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH THE UNITED NATIONS (ECOSOC)
THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
: THE ORGANISATION OF AMERICAN STATES :
AND IS RECOGNISED BY THE ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN UNITY
*
Page 15Page 16