TNAG-0082-FCO40-118-Proposals-to-extend-the-death-penalty-1967 — Page 49

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comparable in severity to Hong Kong's 1950 legislation.

Cyprus legislation, on the other hand, was much less

severe; this frew a distinction between the use of

explosives with intent to cause death or injury to

any person or persons (which carried the death

penalty) and possession or use with intent to damage

property (which carried life imprisonment).

* For our part, we have taken a look at the

Rhodesian legislation because on a number of

occasions we have publicly castigated Rhodesia

as a police state and referred in very critical

terms to certain objectionable features/of its

legislation.

There is no emergency legislation on

this particular subject which is governed by an

ordinance in the substantive law enacted in 1963.

This provides the mandatory death penalty for

offences of causing or attempting to cause (by use

of petrol, explosives etc.) injury, death or damage

to:-

(a) persons;

(b) residential property;

(c) other property and vehicles in which

there were in fact/ persons present at the

time of the offence (even though the

accused did not know it).

The penalty for possession is twenty years. We feel

that Ministers may not be able to ignore the fact that

they are being asked to sanction a penalty that is

more severe than the Rhodesian law provides, in view

of the propaganda advantage this would give the Smith

regime. It is doubtful whether any effective play

could be made by us of the points that the Hong Kong

penalty was an emergency provision of temporary

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