Epoch Times' German correspondent Zhou Rende reports that the Nuremberg district court has issued official arrest warrants against three former Argentine officials: former president Jorge Videla, former naval commander-in-chief, Emilio Massera and former army leader, Carlos Guillermo Suarez Mason. The prosecutor's office in Nuremberg conducted a long investigation to establish this case. The defendants are believed to have been responsible for the murders of German citizens in Argentina.
From 1976 to 1983, Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship, and suffered more violence than other Latin America countries. According to an estimate from one human rights organization, more than 30,000 people were kidnapped, tortured and slaughtered during that period. Among them were about one hundred Germans.
The prosecutor's office in Nuremberg conducted a detailed investigation into the horrible experience that two German students suffered in Argentina. One was Elizabeth Kaesemann, a student in Sociology and Theology from T bingen, Southern Germany. She had devoted herself to working in the slums of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. On the evening of May 23rd 1977, she was killed together with several others. She was only twenty-nine. Another victim was twenty four year old Klaus Manfred Zieschank, a student from the University of Technology, Munich. He went to Buenos Aires in 1976 and on March 24th 1976, two days after the military coup, he was kidnapped and brutally tortured. Like several thousand other people, his body was thrown into international waters so the torture could be covered up.
When interviewed by "Deutsche Welle," the spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Nuremberg said that even though the three defendants did not shoot the students personally, they still need to take responsibility for the murders because they utilized the power of the state to commit these crimes.
Although the Nuremberg district court has issued arrest warrants, it has not made an official request to the Argentine authorities to extradite the three officials to Germany. Observers believe it is more likely that Argentina will conduct the trial. With support from the current President, Nestour Kirchner, the Argentine congress abolished an amnesty law that had been in effect for quite some time. This symbolizes the end of an era where the military governed the nation. Former president Jorge Videla is currently under house arrest because of his crimes.
The attorney that filed the lawsuit against the Argentine officials is a member of the organization "Anti-Immunity Alliance." He filed the lawsuit on behalf of the victim's families. The organization was formed by representatives of human rights groups, churches and the legislature. Mr. Wolfgang Kaleck, a noted German lawyer who specializes in criminal law, is the primary attorney handling the case. He was not surprised to learn of the court's decision and said that they "view it as a major success."
Two weeks ago, Mr. Kaleck submitted an 86-page indictment to the German's Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe on behalf of forty plaintiffs from Germany, China, Ireland, Canada, Australia and the USA. The lawsuit was filed against the former Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, and other Chinese political leaders who are responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong. They are charged with instigating crimes of genocide, torture, murder and infringements of human rights.
Source: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200312/16632.html
Category: Perspective
