andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for External Affairs in view of his statement in the Dáil on 8th February, 1961, that Mr. Hammarskjoeld and the advisory committee of which Ireland is a member pressed for the release or impartial trial of Mr. Lumumba, what charge or charges were in contemplation against Mr. Lumumba, the democratically elected premier of the Congo.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Congo Premier.
37.
Before answering the Deputy's question may I say, a Cheann Comhairle, that the Government were shocked and distressed at the recent announcement of Mr. Lumumba's murder?
It is fervently to be hoped that following this terrible event, all members of the United Nations will be conscious of their responsibilities both to the United Nations and to the Congolese people, and that they will exercise the maximum restraint both in words and action, during this dangerous crisis, which threatens the life of the Organisation and the prospects of world peace. It is to be hoped also that, in this grave situation, the Congolese leaders will be brought to realise the urgent need for restraint and calm, and for the establishment, through conciliation, of an effective civil Government representative of all important elements in the country.
As the Deputies are aware the late Mr. Lumumba's status in relation to the Premiership of the Congo was the subject of bitter controversy from the 5th September, 1960, when President Kasavubu announced his dismissal.
When Mr. Lumumba was first arrested and again when he was rearrested, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Hammarskjoeld, protested against his detention and requested that he should be released immediately or treated humanely and tried speedily according to the due process of law.
The offences alleged against Mr. Lumumba by his Congolese opponents were outlined in a letter dated 7th December addressed by President Kasavubu in reply to the Secretary-General's protest against Mr. Lumumba's detention and mistreatment. It was alleged that Mr. Lumumba was guilty of the following offences against the Congolese Penal Code:
(1)usurpation of public powers (Article 123 of the Penal Code),
(2)assaults on individual freedom accompanied by physical torture (Article 67),
(3)attacks against the security of the State (Article 186),
(4)organisation of hostile bands for purposes of devastation, massacre and pillage (Articles 193-197), and
(5)inciting soldiers to commit offences (Article 202).
In conclusion I must make it clear that these charges were never preferred in court against Mr. Lumumba.
Is it not clear, and has it not been clear to the Government here—and I am solely concerned with the activities of the Government here—that the charges mentioned here by the Minister were a farrago of nonsense directed against the elected head of the Congo, Mr. Lumumba? Is it not further true to say that the cowardly, hand-washing, Pontius Pilate attitude of our Government throughout the imprisonment of Mr. Lumumba has earned us the contempt of the Afro-Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern countries?
That is not a Question. The Deputy is advancing an argument.
May I ask the Minister why it took the Government so long to express its horror over what happened to Mr. Lumumba in view of the fact that every other country in the world has expressed similar views but did not wait until the expression was dragged out of them in Parliament, as has happened here to-day?
That does not arise out of the Question.
It does.
It is not true. We did express our horror at this event the day after we heard it.
If you did, you did it under your breath.
We did it in the right place.
Why did not Nehru do it in the right place? What about the Middle-Eastern countries? Did we not side with the colonial powers throughout this? We should be ashamed to be on the side of the Americans, the Belgians and the British Colonialists. That is who we sided with in the smearing of Mr. Lumumba.
The Deputy should have some sense.
The Minister should be ashamed of himself, with his record of fighting against colonialism and imperialism.