Suspected Holocaust War Criminal, Lazlo Csatary Dies Awaiting Trial

August 14, 2013

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BUDAPEST, Hungary – At age 98, one of the few remaining suspected Holocaust war criminals, Lazlo Csatary died awaiting trial in a Budapest hospital. In so doing, he left many questions unanswered.

Lazlo Csatary, 98, dies awaiting trial for alleged war crimes during the Holocaust. (Photo courtesy of CNN International)

Born just south of Budapest in 1915, Csatary became a police officer throughout Hungary until settling in the city of Kosice. In March 1944, Germans occupied Kosice. As commander of the Royal Hungarian Police in the area, Csatary allegedly helped Gestapo round up and deport several Hungarian Jews in cattle wagons. According to witnesses at the trial of Csatary’s commanding officer, by May 1944, Csatary pursued and beat detainees with a dog-whip in the outskirts of Kosice. When cattle wagons, destined for Auschwitz, were packed tightly with people, witnesses claim Csatary forced even more detainees inside. By the end of the war, Csatary allegedly sent over 15,500 Jews to the death camp.

Following a 1948 in absentia conviction for war crimes in Czechoslovakia, Csatary fled to Canada, where he became a citizen and Montreal art dealer. Canada revoked his citizenship in 1997 for lying on his application, stating that he was a Yugoslav national.

In September 2011, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre of Los Angeles received a tip that led them to discover Csatary in Budapest in 2012.

On 18 July 2012, reports indicate that Csatary was taken into custody for questioning. While Slovakia wanted to try him in their courts and even changed his sentence from the death penalty to life in prison to make the verdict executable, Hungary indicted Csatary on 18 June 2013. Csatary denied the allegations against him.

On 8 July 2013, Budapest’s higher court suspended the case, stating that “Csatary had already been sentenced for the crimes included in the proceedings, in former Czechoslovakia in 1948”, and the court needed to determine whether that verdict was valid in Hungary such that Csatary could serve it.

However, on 10 August 2013, Lazlo Csatary died in a Budapest hospital. According to his lawyer, Gabor B. Horvath, his death was caused by pneumonia.

“This is a very unfortunate end to a saga that lasted far too long,” Efraim Zuroff, Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Israel Office, said Monday. “Csatary should have been brought to justice shortly after the war. … We gave the Hungarian prosecutors evidence two years ago, and this should have been taken care of months ago in Budapest.”

Zuroff further said, “The fact that a well-known war criminal whose Nazi past was exposed in Canada could live undisturbed for so long in the Hungarian capital raises serious questions as to the commitment of the Hungarian authorities to hold their own Holocaust criminals accountable.”

Absent an official trial and ruling on whether the decedent was the same man who committed atrocities during the Holocaust, the world will never know whether one of the last suspects was anything more than just that. Moreover, absent further search, Holocaust survivors will never know if justice was just in reach, or if justice still waits to be served.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Lazlo Csatary: Holocaust Questions Go Unanswered – August 12, 2013

Bloomberg Businessweek – Hungarian Suspected Nazi-Era War Criminal Csatary Dies at Age 98 – August 12, 2013

CNN International – Nazi War Crimes Suspect Laszlo Csatary Dies at 98 – August 12, 2013

Euronews – Nazi War Crimes Suspect Laszlo Csatary Dies before His Trial – August 12, 2013

Jewish Telegraphic Agency – Hungarian War Criminal Laszlo Csatary Dies at 98 – August 12, 2013

Sentences Handed Down After Chinese Unrest

August 13, 2013

By Kevin M. Mathewson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

XINJIANG, China — Two men have been sentenced to death and three more jailed spawning from an incident occurring on April 23 in a town in Kashgar prefecture. The incident left 21 people dead, of which 15 were security personnel.

There are differing accounts of what sparked the violence.

The Intermediate People’s Court in Xinjiang’s Kashgar prefecture sentenced Musa Hesen and Rehmen Hupur, both Muslim, to death for crimes including murder and being part of a “terrorist group”. In total, 19 suspects have been arrested and additional trials are expected.

Death sentences in China are automatically reviewed by the country’s highest court before being carried out.

The violence was initiated when three officials noticed suspicious behavior at a house. Residents of the house seized the officials and other police who arrived on scene, many of whom burned to death when the house was set on fire.

China said the attack was planned by a “violent terrorist group”. However, other accounts dispute this attributing the confrontation to ethnic tensions. Activists accuse China of over-exaggerating the terrorist threat to justify heavy handed rules.

Authorities said those arrested had watched videos advocating religious extremism and terrorism, made explosives and knives, and banners for terrorist attacks.

“Upholding laws during our fight against terrorism helps people at home and abroad get a clearer understanding about terrorist threats in Xinjiang.” said Li Wei, an expert on anti-terrorism at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

In recent years Xinjiang has been plagued with outbreaks of violence. Tensions have continued to rise between the State and Uighurs; the largely Muslim, Turkic-speaking ethnic group that makes up almost half the population.

Many Uighurs complain of religious and cultural repression by Chinese Authorities. Yet,China says it treats minorities fairly and spends billions of dollars on improving living standards in minority areas.

In other recent unrest, in June of last year 35 people were killed in Turpan, and in July 2009 ethnic violence in Urumqi left almost 200 people dead and 1,700 injured.

For further information, please see:

The Guardian – Xinjiang violence: two get death penalty – 12 August 2013

China Digital Times – Court Sentences Five in Xinjiang Violence – 12 August 2013

The Australian – China sentences two to death over unrest – 13 August 2013

BBC News – Xinjiang violence: Two sentenced to death in China – 13 August 2013