Australia has asked the Queen to pardon two of its soldiers who were court-martialled and executed by the British during the Second Boer War.
The petition asks Britain to review the trials of lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock who were found guilty of the murder of 12 prisoners of war in the dying days of the Boer War.
The Second Boer War took place between 1899 and 1902 and saw the mighty British Empire take on the Orange Free State and the Republic of South Africa, which are now both a part of South Africa. This was akin to Manchester United playing Accrington Stanley.
It arose when British citizens moved to the South African Republic - which was annexed by the British Empire in 1877, which led to the First Boer War - to make their fortune after massive gold deposits were found there in 1886, making the country the richest in Africa. As a result, British and Boer citizens began fighting over political and economic rights. This also resulted in the British Empire wanting to take control of the gold mining industry in the area.
The British lost the First Boer War but won the Second.
When the Second Boer War began on October 12, 1899, Australia was still a collection of separate British colonies with a total population of less than 4 million on a land mass nearly as large as the United States. Britain - a country in which you could be hanged for stealing a hat - used Australia as a dumping crowd for its convicts from 1786 until 1868.
Australia asks Queen to pardon disgraced Boer War soldiers
GMT 10 Feb 2010
The Telegraph
Harry 'Breaker' Morant
Australia has asked the Queen to pardon two soldiers who were court-martialled and executed more than 100 years ago in South Africa.
The petition asks Britain to review the trials of lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock who were found guilty of the murder of 12 prisoners of war in the dying days of the Boer War.
The Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, sent the petition, written by a military lawyer, Commander James Unkles, last week.
"We don't express a view either way on it," said Mr McClelland's spokesman.
"We sent it because we don't have any jurisdiction to issue a pardon or review a case that was made by a foreign government in a foreign country."
Commander Unkles said there were strong grounds for overturning the 1902 verdict against Morant, Handcock and their co-accused George Witton, who had his death sentence commuted because it contained serious errors.
"The passing of time and the fact that Morant, Handcock and Witton are deceased does not diminish the errors and these injustices must be addressed," Commander Unkles said in a statement.
"The issue is not whether Morant and Handcock shot Boer prisoners, which they admitted to, but whether they were properly represented and military law properly and evenly applied."
The petition argues the accused were denied the right to communicate with the Australian government or relatives after their arrest and during their trials and were refused an opportunity to prepare their cases.
The Second Boer War, 1899-1902
telegraph.co.uk
The petition asks Britain to review the trials of lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock who were found guilty of the murder of 12 prisoners of war in the dying days of the Boer War.
The Second Boer War took place between 1899 and 1902 and saw the mighty British Empire take on the Orange Free State and the Republic of South Africa, which are now both a part of South Africa. This was akin to Manchester United playing Accrington Stanley.
It arose when British citizens moved to the South African Republic - which was annexed by the British Empire in 1877, which led to the First Boer War - to make their fortune after massive gold deposits were found there in 1886, making the country the richest in Africa. As a result, British and Boer citizens began fighting over political and economic rights. This also resulted in the British Empire wanting to take control of the gold mining industry in the area.
The British lost the First Boer War but won the Second.
When the Second Boer War began on October 12, 1899, Australia was still a collection of separate British colonies with a total population of less than 4 million on a land mass nearly as large as the United States. Britain - a country in which you could be hanged for stealing a hat - used Australia as a dumping crowd for its convicts from 1786 until 1868.
Australia asks Queen to pardon disgraced Boer War soldiers
GMT 10 Feb 2010
The Telegraph
Harry 'Breaker' Morant
Australia has asked the Queen to pardon two soldiers who were court-martialled and executed more than 100 years ago in South Africa.
The petition asks Britain to review the trials of lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock who were found guilty of the murder of 12 prisoners of war in the dying days of the Boer War.
The Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, sent the petition, written by a military lawyer, Commander James Unkles, last week.
"We don't express a view either way on it," said Mr McClelland's spokesman.
"We sent it because we don't have any jurisdiction to issue a pardon or review a case that was made by a foreign government in a foreign country."
Commander Unkles said there were strong grounds for overturning the 1902 verdict against Morant, Handcock and their co-accused George Witton, who had his death sentence commuted because it contained serious errors.
"The passing of time and the fact that Morant, Handcock and Witton are deceased does not diminish the errors and these injustices must be addressed," Commander Unkles said in a statement.
"The issue is not whether Morant and Handcock shot Boer prisoners, which they admitted to, but whether they were properly represented and military law properly and evenly applied."
The petition argues the accused were denied the right to communicate with the Australian government or relatives after their arrest and during their trials and were refused an opportunity to prepare their cases.
The Second Boer War, 1899-1902
The onset of war was complex and resulted from nearly 200 years of conflict between the belligerents. Following the Napoleonic Wars, the British, who were the victors of those wars, seized control of the Cape Colony in 1806. Due to British persecution, the Boer population migrated away from British rule in the eastern coast. Most of the people arrived in Natal, but were annexed in 1843. The Boer continued northwards and established the two republics. In 1852, the British recognized the republics. In 1877, the empire decided to annex the South African Republic, leading to the First Boer War that lasted until 1881. The British were defeated, however, at the Battle of Majuba with heavy losses.
With the discovery of massive gold deposits in 1886, a number of British returned to the region in search of fortune and employment. This made the South African Republic the richest nation in southern Africa. The British immigrants began fighting with the Boer citizens over political and economic rights. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, the administrator of the British colony of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), led a raid in Johannesburg designed to spark an overall revolution in the region. The South African armies surrounded the column in 1895 and the plot failed.
Tensions continued to rise regarding the rights of the British immigrants and the empire used this as an excuse to attempt to take control of the gold mining industry.
As negotiations between the British and the Boers broke down, an ultimatum was issued to the Boers by the British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain (the father of World War II PM Neville Chamberlain) in September 1899. This called for full equality for the British immigrants as well as traditional residents of the Boer population. The President of the South African Republic, Paul Kruger, threatened war if the British did not remove its troops from the border within 48 hours. The British declined and war began between the empire and the South African Republic and their allies, the Orange Free State.
telegraph.co.uk
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