Tatchell Fails in Attempted Arrest of Kissinger

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell today lost a court battle to have Henry Kissinger arrested in London on allegations of war crimes in Vietnam.

His bid was the second request concerning the former US secretary of state to be turned down this week.

Baltasar Garzon, the Spanish judge who tried to prosecute General Pinochet for crimes against humanity, was told by the Home Office on Monday that he could not question Mr Kissinger as a witness in connection with the Condor Plan, under which Latin America's military regimes agreed to eradicate their opponents in the late 1970s.

Mr Tatchell had campaigned to have Mr Kissinger arrested under the 1957 Geneva Conventions Act 1957 for the "killing, injuring and displacement" of 3 million Vietnamese and Cambodian people.

During the 10-minute hearing Mr Tatchell was told that an arrest warrant could only be issued by the director of public prosecutions, and that without his consent no arrest could be made.

Both attempts hoped to catch Mr Kissinger on a visit to the Royal Albert Hall in London, where he today made a speech to the Institute of Directors annual conference on globalisation.

Human rights campaigners joined with anti-globalisation demonstators in a sit down protest outside the hall. Some banged drums while others chanted "war criminal" and "this is what democracy looks like".

Mr Kissinger arrived at the Royal Albert Hall shortly before midday in a chauffeur-driven Jaguar. He walked through an entrance well away from the protesters and refused to answer reporters' questions.

Despite today's decision, Mr Tatchell insisted that he would fight on to bring the allegations against Mr Kissinger to court.

"This is not the end of the line. I will continue to seek Mr Kissinger's arrest on charges that, while he was US national security adviser to President Richard Nixon, he was the chief architect of a US war policy which resulted in the killing, injuring and displacement of 3 million Vietnamese and Cambodian people," he said.

"The victims of his crimes demand justice."

Mr Kissinger was Richard Nixon's national security adviser from 1969 to 1973 and secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 under Mr Nixon and Gerald Ford.