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From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London S.W.1
14 August 1974
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240
Dear Mr Ennels,
Thank you for your latest letter about the 118 South Vietnamese sent back to Saigon from Hong Kong. Although it was dated 7 August, it did not reach me until 13 August.
In my letter of 7 August I said I should be grateful if you could let me have in the most precise detail possible the information on which you relied in saying that some of the group had died, that some had been sent to the front line without training, and that the group had been savagely beaten on their arrival in Saigon. I mentioned that it would be of the greatest help to know the sources of the information and to have factual details including names and dates. I was therefore rather dis- appointed that your letter did not provide this information. In your third paragraph you said that your information came from people closely associated with the deported South Vietnamese and from organisations of international repute. I really do need to know who these people and organisations are and precisely what concrete information they have. You will recollect that the allegations made in the Hong Kong Standard were officially denied by the Saigon Government. I am afraid that it is just not possible to take action on the basis of unsupported allegations.
I notice that you now refer to the alleged deaths as a "possibility". It is unfortunate in that case that the allegations have been prompted to appear as facts established beyond reasonable doubt in such papers as the 'Guardian' and 'New Statesman' as well as in the cuttings you sent me. It is also unfortunate, if less important, that this in turn leads to unreasonable criticism of Ministers and officials who have been doing their best to help. I do hope, therefore, that you will be able to let me have chapter and verse.
Martin Ennals Esq.
Amnesty International
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