It's hurry up and wait on Kalejs case

  • 2000-02-24
  • By Blake Lambert
RIGA - An international meeting of officials from seven countries to discuss the case of alleged World War II criminal Konrads Kalejs achieved consensus, but promised few immediate results.

Representatives from Australia, Canada, Britain, Germany, Israel, the United States and Latvia gathered in Riga on Feb. 16-17 to deal with a 86-year-old man who is accused of killing 30,000 Jews as a commanding officer with the Arajs Kommando.

Kalejs, who is an Australian citizen, was deported from Canada and the United States, before being discovered in Britain last December by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an organization dedicated to tracking those who committed crimes against humanity in World War II.

He abandoned Britain, facing threats of another deportation hearing, for Australia at the beginning of January.

Outgoing Prosecutor General of Latvia Janis Skrastins who chaired the discussion, said on Feb. 17 that there was a "spirit of mutual trust and confidence" when the conference ended.

"I would like to emphasize that on parting we did not have any misunderstandings left among us: about understanding about evidence and what evidence could be [used] on this basis," said Skrastins.

Yet he refused to release many details about the evidence possessed by the seven countries and what, if any, new materials were found that might implicate Kalejs.

But the prosecutor general confirmed Latvia's willingness and preparedness to investigate Nazi crimes committed on its soil during World War II and to prosecute people who committed those crimes.

"The largest achievement is that [at] such a meeting, the evidence was analyzed in its entirety and it helped us find, if not new evidence instantly but some very significant elements which are required for the investigation of the case," said Skrastins.

Latvia intends to update the six countries on the progress of its investigation into Kalejs within the next three months, while the countries agreed to lend their support.

That decision did not prevent the Israeli government from criticizing the Latvian government's previous zeal in investigating those who committed war crimes during World War II.

"The Independent Republic of Latvia began the process of bringing war criminals, who helped to perpetrate the Holocaust on the Latvian territory, too late," it said.

Nevertheless, the Israeli government said it was satisfied with the manner in which Latvian authorities conducted the international conference.

"The State of Israel sees the convening of the meeting, alongside with the future implementation of its decisions - among other measures - as the significant step towards Latvia's coming to terms with its past."

International representatives broadened their discussions beyond the Kalejs case at their meeting: Other countries, such as Australia, Canada, and Germany are pursuing five Latvians, according to Skrastins, who are accused of participating in the Holocaust.

The names of those men were also not released by Latvia's prosecutor general, saying they belong to the countries which are conducting the investigations.

Despite ending on a note of cooperation, the conference failed to include everyone who expressed an interest: the Russian government and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Skrastins said the Russians offered to participate in the meeting just three days before it was scheduled, making it very difficult to arrange their attendance with the six other countries.

Instead, he said Latvia sent a proposal through their special prosecutor's office to meet with Russian representatives either at the end of February or the beginning of March.

Skrastins simply failed to comment on the absence of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which was eager to receive an invitation to share its knowledge.

In an interview on Feb. 15, Efraim Zuroff, the director of the Center's office in Israel, said he was told by Latvian representatives that if the Israeli government wanted to invite him, they would have done so.

"I think it's very strange that (the Latvian government) insisted on no non-governmental organizations. We think it was specifically because of us," said Zuroff.

Over the years, he repeatedly criticized Latvia for failing to prosecute alleged World War II criminals such as Kalejs when they launched previous investigations in 1997.

At the closing press conference, Skrastins admitted that previous work by Latvia was somewhat lacking.

"Yes, there are some documents about which we spoke at this meeting and which perhaps previously we have not evaluated properly, not only us but other countries," he said.

Skrastins specifically cited "interesting documents" that can be found in Britain in relation to the investigation of another case.

The entire conference cemented a tremendous change in Latvia's role in the investigation of its alleged World War II criminals from before, according to the prosecutor general.

Previously, it worked in cooperation, as a provider of support, with countries such as Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, and Wales, signing agreements in the immediate years after Latvia regained its independence.

Skrastins said the government now no longer plays such a limited role.

"We have joined forces. Latvia says that its ready to take over all judicial proceedings any case, any crime that has been committed in Latvia. If the respective country considers it possible to transfer judicial proceedings to Latvia."