In a telegram sent to the International Defence and Aid Fund on 30 December 1979, the full text of which is reproduced below, the British Governor Lord Soames revealed that he had commuted 11 death sentences imposed for murder. Those concerned, who had exalted all their rights of appeal, would instead serve life imprisonment.
It is not clear from Lord Soames's message, however, whether the 11 persons concerned were political cases. They may have been sentenced to death on conventional criminal charges of murder or rape, as opposed to offences connected with the armed liberation struggle. On the other hand, as previously reported in FOCUS, the regime has shown an increasing tendency to lay criminal charges of murder or stock theft against persons who by the circumstances of their arrest should properly be regarded as prisoners of war. In the past such defendants would probably have been charged under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act. ABEDNIGO DUBE, for example, whose sentencing to death for murder was reported in FOCUS 25, was described as a ZIPRA combatant operating in the Gwelo area at the time of his capture.
Lord Soames's reply has not clarified the fate of others awaiting execution on charges under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act. 16-year-old LEAVIT KATUMBA, who was sentenced to death in July 1979 by a special court martial for possessing arms of war, falls into this category. While a similar death sentence imposed on his 19-year-old brother BENCHARD is known to have been commuted on petitioning the regime's President, Leavit, as far as is known, remains in the death cells, if he has not already been hanged. Both he and his brother submitted sworn evidence of the protracted torture and assault they had received at the hands of the security forces while awaiting trial.
The IDAF has requested Lord Soames to reveal the names of those whose death sentences he has commuted. IDAF has also asked Lord Soames to supply firm information on the fate of a total of 119 persons known to have been sentenced to death under the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act or on other political grounds since the introduction of secret hangings in April 1975. The 119 may have been executed, they may have been pardoned and be still in prison, or they may have been released. It is possible that quite a number of executions were carried out by the regime during the Lancaster House talks, to "clear the decks" for Lord Soames's arrival. At the end of November, a regime spokesman was reported to have confirmed that political executions were continuing. The majority of the victims had been sentenced by special courts martial. The spokesman refused to divulge figures, but "unofficial sources and released prisoners" reported 10-12 hangings each week.
The regime's Minister of Justice Mr Chris Andersen has criticised Lord Soames's decision to commute the 11 death sentences, as "inconsistent with the agreement as to the capacity in which it was said he (Lord Soames) would govern". Mr Andersen said that most of the cases were "cold-blooded brutal murders, committed for gain and against helpless victims, all but two of whom were women and children". He "termed the Governor's decision to commute all the cases before him, irrespective of circumstances, unfortunate and unjust".
IDAF has learned that the death sentence on a 16-year-old LEAVIT KATUMBA was commuted to 15 years imprisonment and 12 cuts on a date prior to the Governor's arrival. It also appears certain that all 11 death sentences commuted by Lord Soames concerned ordinary criminal cases of murder and not political offences.
On 17 January death sentences imposed on a further two men for murder were upheld by the regime's Chief Justice, Mr. Hector Mac Donald, in the Appellate Division. Mr. Mac Donald sharply criticised Lord Soames's action in commuting previous sentences. The British Governor's office, for their part, noted that there could be "no question of the Governor's absolute right to exercise the prerogative of mercy".
