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RECEIVER
17 APR 1978
DESK OFFICER
PA
NO. 51
ELBISTRY Action Take›
No Castel de
School of Oriental and African Studies University of London NDEX
Malet Street London WCIE 7HP
Telephone: 01-580 0916
Honorary President:Rt. Hon. Tony Benn MP
General Secretary: Greg Lee
Dear Dr. Owen,
4.4.1978
The Labour Club members have asked me to write to you expressing their concern over
the consequences of the executions of Erskine Burrows and Larry Tacklyn in Bermuda.
It seemed to many of our members who were involved in lobbying members of the House
of Commons in an attempt to prevent the hangings, that the subsequent riots and
extensive dange to race relations on the island were foreseeable and avoidable.
Although,we believe, the policy of the British Government is that the administration
of justice in Bermuda is an internal matter of the Bermudan Government, and that un-
less there appears to have been a serious miscarriage of justice you are not empowered
to take action it is of our opinion that in some capacity, especially since you are
a defender of human rights, you could have seen fit to have done something to avert
the execution of the death sentences passed on these two men.
•
We understand that you were unwilling to act in an official capacity because of a ruling
made by Creech-Jones in 1948, we further note on December 5th you told parliament that
you were willing to review the whole question of capital punishment in the Dependendent
Territories.We should be grateful if you would inform us of any progress made on this issue.
You will understand that in a college such as S.0.A.S. the status and treatment of such
dependencies is of great concern to students, many of whom feel great affinity with the
people of these British 'colonies'
•
P.T.0.
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