EMBARGOED 6.00 PM PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA SUNDAY 30 MARC ) 4
ELECTORATE TALK
It is now three months since the Russian army rolled into
Afghanistan. That cold-blooded and brutal invasion drew universal condemnation.
Russia had stepped out from behind its iron curtain for the
first time to use its forces against a sovereign non-aligned
Third World country.
Today, the Soviet troops are still there.
The murder 6f Afghans continues.
Tragically, there is not a single sign that the Soviet leadership
has paid any heed to the world's revulsion of its actions.
On the contrary, there are still upwards of 90,000 Soviet troops
in Afghanistan and some 30,000 to 40,000 more massed on the
Soviet-Afghanistan border.
If anything, the Soviets are increasing their military occupation
of Afghanistan.
In the past few weeks, Soviet forces have been heavily involved
in suppressing resistance in the Kunar Valley near the Pakistan
border. My information is that this action has been particularly ruthless
and brutal. All but a handful of the valley's population of
160,000 has been forced to flee.
This once fertile food bowl has been defoliated its people
have fled: those who remain are reported to be suffering
injuries consistent with the use of napalm or phospherous weapons.
What has the Soviet occupation meant to the people of Afghanistan?
For the Afghan people, the large scale repression, terrorism,
murder and torture have now become their way of life and the
tyranny of violence has been imposed upon them.
There are already 600,000 refugees in the United Nations-controlled
camps in Pakistan and elsewhere. .2
.4113f?, 1312Y ' Rg-
I am advised this figure is expected to reach one million,
comparable to the exodus of Kampuchean refugees that so touched
the world.
In one prison in Kabul, the commandant boasts that his aim is
t o reduce Afghanistan's population to around one million to
achieve a " communist" society.
Purges of intellectual and religious leaders are continually
taking place.
There are reports of Soviet-supervised torture dating from 1 978
-that include drownings in latrine pits, mass drowning, and
the night-time burying alive of village male populations.
Ther aefrhrrpts in the central Afghan region of
submission by starvation of village political and religious
' Leaders. Eone incident on the outskirts of Kabul 150 people were burnt
alive, and a further 150 buried alive.
rhese reports have been documented by an observer from the Parisbased
International Human Rights Federation a responsible
organisation. which operates independently of any government and
is recognised by the Council of Europe.
on top of these atrocities come the reports in the world free
press of: the murder, on April 20, 1979, in, the village of
Kerala, of the entire male population of 1,200
men and boys over 7 years old;
the use of helicopter gun ships to put down peaceful
protest rallies in Kabul with reported casualties of-
800-1000 dead and 2,000 wounded.
That's the story of Afghanistan today.
Can that leave any doubt in anyone's mind as to why the w~ orld is
so repulsed.
Yet there is a tendency to regard that continued occupation of
Afghanistan by the Soviet forces as a fact of life and to
let it slip from the day-to-~ day consciousness.
Perhaps that is why there are some among us who now ask us to
re-think our decision on the Olympic boycott.
As I have said all along, the issue before us is not the Olympic
Games the issue is, and always will be, the Soviet suppression
of the Afghan people.
Are these horrific accounts of human tragedy and suffering not
the real answer to those who doubt the wisdom of our course? 3
Let me remind you again of how the Russians view the Olympic
Games. They claim it is as " universal recognition of the
historical importance and correctness of the course of our
country's foreign policy".
When you think about this whole question, ask yourself:
" Do you want the Australian flag raised in Moscow?"
" Do you want our national anthem played in Moscow?"
Should Australia pay homage to tryranny?
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