巴东卡里屠杀案 沉冤60年
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□ 林友顺
英国,殖民政府在马来西亚犯下的巴东卡里屠杀案,堪与美军在越南的美莱屠杀案相提并论。
60年前,英军把巴东卡里村24名华人当作马共成员加以杀害。马来西亚华人社围15年来要求英国调查此案,却始终未果。这一次。他们坚持要起诉英国政府,最大的目的在于讨回公道,教育年轻一代不要忘记历史。
2008年12月12日,逾百名华人社团代表及华裔议员集体游行至英国驻马来西亚最高专员署,向英国使节人员提呈请愿书,要求英女王向英国政府施压,举行听证会,调查60年前(1948年)在雪兰莪州北部一个华人村庄巴东卡里(Batang Kali),24名村民被英国军人集体屠杀的案件。手缠黑布的华团代表拉起了布条声讨英国军人的罪行,还在英国最高专员署前置放白菊花及默哀,哀悼枉死的同胞;英国驻马最高专员柏尔麦克里罕见地亲自接收由553个华人社团联合提呈的诉求。
巴东卡里屠杀案义务律师团召集人郭义民说,华社要求英国政府就60年前屠杀村民事件道歉,同时给予死者家属合理的赔偿及在屠杀案地点建立纪念碑。郭义民表示,律师团目前已经掌握确凿的证据,包括当年参与屠杀案的英军士兵的宣誓书,证明英军在当时是滥杀无辜,而不是英国政府当年所指被杀害者都是共产党人。因此,律师团要求英女王指示英国政府成立独立听证会,由英国或欧盟资深法官承审屠杀案,以让屠杀案真相水落石出。
滥杀无辜的真相
巴东卡里是个小乡村,距离吉隆坡约45公里,当地居民以务农为主。60年前马来亚(之后改称马来西亚)由英国人统治,以马来亚共产党为主力的武装进行反抗。1948年12月11日凌晨,英殖民政府接获情报,称巴东卡里双溪尔毛橡胶园的割胶工人接济及窝藏马共成员,殖民当局即刻派遣一支由14名英格兰卫兵团及多名警方人员组成的突击队包围胶园工人宿舍。当时宿舍内有55人,英军把男女分开盘问;在未能获得任何情报后,英军把妇孺以卡车载走,26名男性胶工则被带到一条小溪旁,随后英军从后面开枪扫射,24人被杀害,只有两人逃过劫难;工人宿舍也被英军烧毁。当时的英国报章大事报道此事,称“这是英国政府在马国实行戒严令以来最成功的一次歼匪行动”。
然而在1970年2月1日,伦敦的《人民报》(The People)在封面刊登了一篇揭秘新闻,访问在当时参与围剿行动的五名英国军人,揭发被杀害者不是马共成员,而是当地的胶工。英国政府曾两度调查此案,不过最后都以“未能获得足够证据”为由,把此案搁置,让死者的家属生活在痛苦中。
目前仍然在世、现年已经77岁的目击者谭蓉在追述这段经历时仍然忍不住泪流满面。在屠杀案发生时,谭蓉是17岁的少女,她对当年的屠杀情景至今仍然记忆清晰。她说:“英军在傍晚时分抵达时,我们正在准备晚餐。他们把我们团团包围,我们非常害怕。”她表示,虽然他们一再表示不是马共成员,也没有武器,但英军并不放过他们;英军在一名男子身上找到一张华文字条而误以为是马共文件,就枪杀这名胶工。她说:“英国士兵叫这名胶工逃走,这名胶工不愿,被他们推着往前走,士兵就从背后开枪打死这名胶工。”
她说,第二天清晨,英军把所有妇孺赶上卡车,当卡车开动时,她听到背后传来多响枪声。她们在被关禁一个星期后获准返回宿舍,只见遍地尸体。
索偿8000万英镑
十多年来,马来西亚朝野政党曾多次尝试帮忙被杀害者家属向英国政府讨回公道及寻求赔偿,可是一直不受英国政府的理会。人们相信这是因为英军曾在世界各地犯下多起屠杀事件,因此一旦马国村民行动成功,其他国家的受害者也会行动起来。
经过锲而不舍的努力,屠杀案律师团最近也找到有力的证据。义务律师团召集人郭义民2008年与另一名律师飞到英国,成功找到涉及屠杀案的英军士兵在1970年向警方所做的口供及提供的法定宣誓书,这为该案找到突破点。1970年时任英国防长的丹尼斯在公众舆论及国会议员的压力下,指示警方对有关案件进行调查。警方在费时三个月的调查中向涉及的士兵录取口供,不过却在要赴马来西亚调查时,当时的工党政府倒台,保守党政府中止有关调查,从此此案就被搁置。目前收存在英国国家档案局的英军口供书原文曾有一段时期无故失踪,不过在报章揭露后又回到档案局。
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http://qkzz.net/article/ebc8bb16 ... aa69eda4a.htmBatang Kali massacre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Batang Kali massacre involved the indiscriminate killing of 24 unarmed villagers by British troops on 12 December 1948 during the Malayan Emergency. The incident happened during counter-insurgency operations against Malay and Chinese communists in Malaya - then a colony of the British Crown. It is sometimes described as "Britain's My Lai". [1]
Despite several investigations by the British government since the 1950s, as well as, a re-examination of the evidence by the Royal Malaysia Police between 1993 and 1997, no charges have ever been brought against any of the alleged perpetrators.[2]
Contents
1 Killings
2 Subsequent developments
3 Judicial review
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Killings
In December 1948, 7th Platoon, G Company, 2nd Scots Guards surrounded a rubber plantation at Sungai Rimoh near Batang Kali in Selangor. The civilians were then rounded up by the British soldiers. The men were separated from the women and children for interrogation.
During this time, shooting was heard. In total 24 unarmed villagers were killed before the village was set on fire. The only adult male survivor of the killings was a man named Chong Hong who was in his 20s at the time. He fainted and was presumed dead. Other eyewitnesses include the victims' spouses and children such as Tham Yong, aged 17 and Loh Ah Choy, who was aged seven at the time.
Subsequent developments
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2012)
In the 1960s, Denis Healey, the British Defence Secretary instructed Scotland Yard to set up a special task force (led by Frank Williams) to investigate the matter. An alleged lack of evidence gave the incoming Conservative government an excuse to drop the investigation in 1970.
On 9 September 1992, a BBC documentary, an investigative report into the massacre entitled "In Cold Blood" was aired in the United Kingdom and revealed fresh evidence. The documentary included accounts from witnesses and survivors, including confessions of an ex-Scots Guards soldier and interviews with the Scotland Yard police officers who had investigated the case in 1970.
On 8 June 1993 with the help of the MCA Legal Bureau, a petition was presented to Queen Elizabeth II asking that justice be done.
On 14 July 1993 a police report was lodged by three survivors, accompanied by the MCA Public Service and Complaints Bureau Chief Michael Chong.
On 18 September 1993, however, Gavin Hewitt (Head of South East Asia Department of the Foreign Office, UK) stated that "No new evidence has been uncovered by the British authorities to warrant the setting up of another official inquiry into the alleged massacre of 24 villagers in Batang Kali…"
On 30 December 1997, an investigation report was submitted to the Royal Malaysian Police Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Bukit Aman. The case was closed on the grounds of insufficient evidence for prosecution.
On 13 July 2004, the DAP, a Malaysian political party, raised the Batang Kali massacre in the Malaysian Parliament.
On 25 March 2008, the family members of the massacre victims and several NGOs formed an 'Action Committee Condemning the Batang Kali Massacre' and submitted a petition to the British High Commission in Malaysia. The petition seeks official apology, compensation for the family members of the 24 massacre victims and financial contribution towards the educational and cultural development of the Ulu Yam community.
On 30 January 2009, the Foreign Office in Britain rejected a call for an inquiry into the massacre of villagers.[3] On 24 April 2009, the British government announced that it was reconsidering this decision.[4] In January 2012, lawyers for the victims and their families were given Foreign Office correspondence and Cabinet Office guidance relating to the incident.[5]
On 30 April 2009, The Independent reported that the British government bowed to legal action and agreed to reinvestigate the massacre.[6] Secret papers uncovered by Mrs. Tham's solicitors, Bindmans, now show that the colonial Attorney General who exonerated the British troops of any wrongdoing at the time privately believed that mass public executions might deter other insurgents. A second document reveals that officials at the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur had briefed ministers that there was little point in Scotland Yard officers interviewing eyewitnesses in the 1970s because Malaysian villagers were untrustworthy, motivated by compensation and it was "doubtful" they could recall events 22 years earlier.
On 2 April 2010, Tham Yong, 78, the last Malaysian adult witness to the massacre of 24 unarmed villagers by British troops in 1948, died, leaving the campaign for an official investigation uncertain.
Judicial review
Malaysian victims unsuccessfully petitioned Queen Elizabeth to re-open an inquiry into the massacre in 1993 and in 2004. They tried again in 2008 and didn't receive a reply from the British government until 2011, when the High Court agreed to review the case.[7]
In May 2012 the judicial review on the British government's position was held at the High Court in London.[8] On 4 September 2012, High Court's judges in London upheld a government decision not to hold a public hearing into the killing.[2] The Court also ruled that Britain was responsible for the killing in Batang Kali. In its written judgement, it said, "There is evidence that supports a deliberate execution of the 24 civilians at Batang Kali." [9]
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本帖最后由 符懋濂 于 2013-3-24 20:49 编辑 ]
