Rhodesian Peace Commission accuses security forces

By MICHAEL DUGGAN
Allegations that Rhodesian security forces fighting insurgents have tortured and assaulted innocent Africans and have shown "gross disregardfor life and property are contained in a new report compiled by Rhodesia's Catholic Justice and Peace Commission.
Published in London with the backing of the Catholic hierarchy in Rhodesia the 22page document gives evidence of beatings, electric shock treatment and the destruction of homes and crops. It describes the effects on the African community of eviction and resettlement in the government's "protected" villages.
The report was compiled over a threeyear period and it represents the latest attempt by Rhodesian Catholics to find a non-violent solution to their country's acute problems. A request from Church leaders in 1974 for an impartial inquiry into allegations of torture and brutality by security forces was rejected by the Minister of Justice. Bishop Lamont of Umtali, President of the Rhodesian Justice and Peace Commission, writes in an introduction to the report that the cases documented reveal the dilemma facing civilians in many areas of Rhodesia.
He quotes one victim as saying: "If we report to the police, the terrorists kill us. If we do not report, the police torture us. Even if we do report to the police, we are beaten all the same and accused of trying to lead the soldiers into a trap. We just do not know what to do."
The Commission cannot remain silent about injustices "which not only expose the true extent of the hardship and suffering endured by these innocent and defenceless people, but also indicate the real nature of the armed struggle taking place in our midst and the causes underlying it," writes the Bishop.
. "As long as such a state of affairs is allowed to continue, we need hardly wonder if the claims of Russian or Chinese Communists so near to our borders exercise a powerful attraction for the masses of Rhodesians who feel that they have nothing to lose."
Mr Stuart Reid takes up his appointment as editor of the Catholic Herald on Monday. May 19, succeeding Mr Maurice Hart.
Mr Hart rejoins the City staff of the Daily Telegraph, while Mr Reid comes from The Times Diary.
Lisieux pilgrimage
Seventy-three people board a British Airways plane at Heathrow this weekend for the one-day Catholic Herald pilgrimage to Lisieux, France, the home of St Therese. After landing at Deauville on the coast, the pilgrims travel by road td Lisieux, where they will visit the Basilica. the Carmelite convent where St Therese lived, and her family's home, Les Buissonnets.
Fr Hubert Simes of Roehampton will be in charge of the pilgrimage and the fourhour programme will include several talks. Some members of the aircrew may accompany pilgrims to Lisieux on Saturday. the fiftieth anniversary of the Saint's canonisation.