A general amnesty for representatives of the regime and its opponents was introduced through Governor's proclamation on Friday 21 December 1979. Lord Soames stated in a nationwide TV and radio broadcast that the amnesty order, signed on 22 December, affected alike those who had defied the British crown in 1965 by declaring UDI and those who had taken up arms against the government then established.
The exact implications of the amnesty order have yet to become clear in practice. The IDAF has asked Lord Soames for reassurance that the amnesty ordinance, in respect of all acts committed in good faith in resistance to the rebellion, applies to * all those detained under the Emergency Powers Regulations * all prisoners serving sentences in terms of the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act and other political legislation, and under the criminal law for acts which clearly have a political connotation * all those detained or convicted under martial law. As FOCUS went to press persons remained in custody in Rhodesia under all three of these categories.
