See Chances Dimming for Delay of Statute of Limitations on Nazi War Crimes

Chances dimmed today that there would be any extension of the period before the statute of limitations on Nazi war crimes goes into effect. Two of West Germany’s three major political parties-Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger’s Christian Democrats and the Free Democrats — are opposed to an extension. The Social Democrats, while officially in favor of extending the period beyond the Dec. 31, 1969 deadline, are split over the issue. A majority of the Christian Democratic parliamentary faction that met here today decided that the effective date of the statute could not be set back. When it goes into effect it will bar any future indictment and prosecution of Nazis charged with murder. A statute of limitations already in effect prevents the prosecution of war criminals accused of lesser crimes.

There is, however, a strong tide of public opinion running in favor of the outright abolition of the statute of limitations. But it appears to be mostly outside of Germany. In Brussels today, an organization representing 36 associations of former resistance fighters, political prisoners and youth movements, appealed to the West German Government to abolish the statute and proclaim that there can be no end to war crimes prosecutions. The Belgian Committee Against the Statute of Limitations asserted that its views are shared by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and by many nations. It urged organizations and public opinion to remain alert to the dangers represented by the statute.