TNAG-0601-FCO40-749-Capital-punishment-in-Dependent-Territories-1977 — Page 112

A.D.S. Goodall Esq.

Western European Department Foreign and Commonwealth Office Downing Street (West)

SW1A 2AL

Dear David

HOME OFFICE

QUEEN ANNE'S GATE LONDON SWIH 9AT

3rd October 1977

Mr By

Mr Nicherter

For advice a

X

"AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL" CONFERENCE ON ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY

I mentioned to you, and also to Ivan Callan in your UN Department, the other day that our Permanent Under Secretary, Robert Armstrong, had received an invitation to attend this conference in Stockholm in December. I now enclose for your information a copy of the invitation and supporting documents. Armstrong has replied briefly to

the invitation saying that he is unable to attend. We deliberately have not raised the question whether anyone else from the Home Office might attend the conference. It would be against our normal practice to be officially represented at a non-governmenta international conference of this kind. Moreover there would be an obvious awkwardness in official participation in a conference which is aimed at generating an international campaign to end the use of the death penalty: although the United Kingdom is now an abolitionist country, the issue is not one on which (except in relation to Northern Ireland) governments have ever taken a definite line, and capital punishment survives in the Channel Islands and some of the dependent territories.

I mentioned to you when we spoke the statement on the last page of the programme details to the effect that the conference would include 25 governmental representatives "mostly accredited to Stockholm". We should be interested to hear if an invitation is received by our own Embassy. If it is, you will probably agree that there was no reason why someone from the Embassy should not attend the conference as an observer.

I am sending a copy of this letter and enclosures to Callan; also to your colleague, JAB Stewart, who is currently caught up in another aspect of the capital punishment question.

Youre

ему

Michael Theriati

M.J. MORIARTY