Alfredo Astiz - Prisoners of War

Prisoners of War

Soon after the British recapture of South Georgia, Nicanor Costa Méndez, the Argentine Foreign Minister, stated that Argentina was technically in a state of war with the UK. At about the same time an Argentine prisoner (Félix Artuso) was shot dead by a Royal Marine who mistakenly thought he was trying to scuttle a captured submarine. The UK informed Argentina, through Brazilian diplomats, that a board of inquiry would be convened under the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The next day the UK claimed the Argentine prisoners were not prisoners of war because they were taken before Argentina declared hostilities. Six days later they changed their mind. In a 1983 article, Meyer opines that this was because the UK had already implied the Argentine detainees were prisoners of war by applying provisions of the Geneva Conventions. It was justified by the reference in the common articles to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to their applicability to "declared war or any other armed conflict" between signatories.

About three weeks after they were captured the UK announced it would repatriate all 151 soldiers and 39 civilians, five of whom were not Argentine citizens, held in detention on South Georgia. The wide publicity surrounding the surrender of Astiz had already prompted first the Swedish and then the French to make the UK aware that Astiz was accused of criminal acts against their nationals. As they were being shipped to Ascension Island to be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and flown home, Sweden asked to question Astiz. Soon after the French government asked that Astiz be held while they sought legal remedies for the "disappearances" of the nuns. Both countries stated that they had eyewitnesses for the "disappearances." The UK initially responded that concerned parties should talk to the ICRC as they would be handing Astiz to them. However, the ICRC steadfastly refused the countries' requests to talk to Astiz should he be handed into their custody. Both nations stepped up diplomatic pressure on the United Kingdom not to hand him over to the ICRC. The UK decided to send home the 189 other detainees, "as an act of compassion", while Astiz was to be held until "the end of the belligerency", initially on Ascension.