Today, lawyers Liesbeth Zegveld and Göran Sluiter sent a letter to the National Office of the Public Prosecution Service regarding the criminal complaint filed against Jorge Zorreguieta. By decision of 16 March 2012, the prosecutor's office had informed the complainants that it would not be initiating a criminal investigation against Zorreguieta, inter alia because it did not expect further investigation to yield evidence. Even so, this decision could be reviewed in light of new facts and/or circumstances.
In the meantime new facts and circumstances have indeed come to light that increase the likelihood that Zorreguieta was co-responsible for the enforced disappearances. For example, research has shown that close ties existed between the military regime and (high-ranking) officials within the Ministry of Agriculture, and that the ministry was indeed aware of the disappearance of its employees.
Enforced disappearances, both as independant offense and in its capacity as a crime against humanity, constitutes a continuing crime over which the Netherlands has jurisdiction. Under the International Convention on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances, the Netherlands, and therefore the public prosecutor's office, has a far-reaching obligation to take an active stance in investigating enforced disappearances.
Read the letter of 31 January 2013 here (available in Dutch).
Annexes (in Dutch)
- Decision by the public prosecutor's office of 16 March 2012
- Letter to the public prosecutor's office of 25 January 2012 (additional information)
Previously: