DEATH SENTENCES Four more people are known to have been sentenced to death under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act since the publication of the latest Anglo-American settlement proposals at the beginning of September. They are:-
SIMON MPALA, an executive member of the African National Council of Zimbabwe, sentenced to death by a Special Court in Bulawayo on conviction of recruiting for guerilla training.
LUTA DHLAMINI, a branch official of the ANC(Z) sentenced to death by a Special Court in Bulawayo on 29 September on recruiting charges.
KENAANI NYATI, also an ANC(Z) official, reported on 9 October to have been sentenced to death on being found guilty of encouraging four youths to go for guerilla training in Zambia. (S.T. (Lon) 9.10.77)
TARU NGOBENI, sentenced to death by a Salisbury court on 12 October.
In addition, FRANCIS CHAMUNORWA MOYO, an employee of the Ministry of Health in Gwelo, was sentenced to death in the Salisbury High Court on 22 July 1977, on being found guilty of conspiring with a guerilla to shoot a headman. The charge was one of murder. Two others, GEORGE SEZI and an unnamed 18 year-old youth who were jointly charged with Moyo, were sentenced to 7 and 10 years imprisonment respectively. (RH 22/23.7.77)
These new cases bring the total number of people known to have been sentenced to death since early 1975 on charges under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act or otherwise connected with the armed struggle, to 109, of whom 6 are known to have been successful on appeal in having their sentences commuted to prison terms.
LUCAS TLOU, whose conviction on recruiting charges was reported in FOCUS 12, had his appeal against the death penalty dismissed in October. (FOCUS 12 p. 2.) MAHLATINI SAMBULO NDHLOVU, sentenced to death in June, has also been unsuccessful on appeal (FOCUS 11 p. 9).
The British White Paper, "Rhodesia - Proposals for a Settlement" (Cmnd 6919, September 1977) has raised a number of serious questions. The proposal that a general amnesty should be declared on the establishment of a transitional administration, in particular, appears to have dangerous implications for those now being charged under the "hanging clauses" of the Smith regime's Law and Order (Maintenance) Act. Paragraph 18(c) of Annex B of the White Paper states that "it will be necessary to 'wipe the slate clean' when legality is restored (i.e. at the start of the transition) and to prevent punitive or recriminatory action being taken thereafter in respect of acts arising out of the political situation which obtained during that period (i.e since UDI). In practice it will be necessary to extinguish both civil and criminal liability for such acts".
There appears to be little to prevent the regime interpreting this particular clause as a legal carte blanche to continue and even to step up the trial and execution of its political opponents in the period preceding the installation of a transitional administration, in the knowledge that no legal action will subsequently be taken against it. In effect, the White Paper seems almost to be sanctioning the regime's Indemnity and Compensation Act of 1975 under which members of the security forces and other regime employees have been indemnified against the legal consequences of any action taken in the course of "suppressing terrorism".
STOP PRESS In addition to the above, KOKI NCUBE, alias Jabulani Ndiweni, was sentenced to death by a Special Court in Bulawayo at the end of October. He was convicted of possessing arms of war and recruiting 33 young people for guerilla training. His conviction brings the total number of people known to have been sentenced to death on political grounds since early 1975 to 110.
SPECIAL COURTS Although there have continued to be few reports of trials in the Rhodesian press, Special Court sittings are known to have been taking place, particularly in Salisbury and Bulawayo. Very large numbers of people are known to have been arrested in all parts of the country in recent weeks (see under DETENTIONS), many of whom are now awaiting trial. It appears highly likely that a considerable backlog of cases has built up.
8 August: Salisbury. An unnamed 18 year old youth was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to possessing four SKS rifles, six AK rifles, 20 grenades and ammunition. He was alleged to have been a member of a guerilla group which came into contact with the regime's forces in the Honde Valley on 15 November 1976. The accused was wounded and captured during this engagement. (RH 9.8.77)
16 August: Bulawayo. PIPONI SIBANDA, a farm worker, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for not reporting the presence of guerrillas. It was alleged in court that the accused had been in contact with guerrillas who had killed Andries Burger and three other people at Riverside Ranch in the Wankie area. Sibanda had worked at the ranch as a cattle herder for nine years. (RH 17.8.77)
OTHER CONVICTIONS 5 August: Marandellas Magistrates' Court GILBERT MANDIGWA, 21, a committee member of the United African National Council (UANC), Harari Youth Wing, and PHINEAS MUPINGO, 21, were both sentenced to four years imprisonment for trying to leave the country for guerrilla training in Mozambique. Mupingo's address was given as "shanty town", Salisbury. (RH 6.8.77)
26 August: Marandellas Magistrates' Court Two 18 year old sisters, who were not named, received sentences of six years imprisonment with labour, of which five years was conditionally suspended, for attempting to leave the country for guerrilla training. The magistrate commended the parents of the girls who, the court was told, reported their daughters to the authorities. He said this was the "most unusual and commendable aspect of the case". He told the accused that in deciding what sentence to impose, the effect it would have on their parents "weighs heavily on my mind" (RH 27.8.77).
1 September: Salisbury Magistrates Court A 46-year-old man, CHITATE MUYANGWA, was sentenced to a four-and-a-half year prison term for allegedly assisting a guerrilla in the Mount Darwin area in February 1977. He was found guilty on two counts of contravening the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act, firstly by assisting the guerrilla and his friends by providing them with food, and secondly by not reporting their presence to the authorities. Evidence was led that Muyangwa lived in a "protected village" - at the Gatsi Kraal, Kandeya Tribal Trust Land, Mount Darwin, and that he had bought food and arranged for sadza to be cooked for the group. Muyangwa told the magistrate that the guerrilla had come into his hut in the keep. He had told the accused he had climbed over the wire. Muyangwa was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, of which three and a half years were conditionally suspended for five years. (RH 1.9.77)
14 September: Salisbury High Court An unnamed youth, aged between 17 and 18 years, was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for murder and possessing arms of war. The court was told he was a member of a guerrilla group which came into contact with security forces in the Nyajena Tribal Trust land near Fort Victoria on 22 December 1976. (RDM 15.9.77)
