HC Deb 09 March 1983 vol 38 cc430-1W
26. Mr. Weetch

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will propose co-ordinated activity by European states to make representations to Governments of states known or suspected to be harbouring Nazi war criminals.

28. Mr. Winnick

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek co-operation with appropriate European countries in order to secure the extradition of Walter Rauff from Chile.

Mr. Hurd

In 1955 the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany assumed responsibility for the prosecution of all Nazi war criminals, with the exception of those major criminals such as Martin Bormann, arraigned at Nuremberg. It is for the Federal Republic of Germany, not Her Majesty's Government, to take the initiative in co-ordinating representations to states known to be, or suspected of, harbouring other Nazi war criminals.

In the case of Walter Rauff, a request by the Federal Republic of Germany for his extradition was rejected in 1963 by the Chilean supreme court. Subsequent German requests to Presidents Allende and Pinochet for Rauff s extradition also failed.

The extradition treaty between Chile and the United Kingdom cannot be invoked because it applies only to offences committed in the territory of one of the parties.

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