Investigations and prosecutions for crimes committed since the Second World War

Despite the millions of crimes under international law committed since the guns fell silent in 1945, there were few criminal investigations or prosecutions - either in the states where the crimes occurred or abroad - for nearly four decades. Indeed, with respect to the obligation of states parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions to try or extradite people suspected of grave breaches, the Director of Doctrine and Law of the International Committee of the Red Cross stated …

…by Ragnar Hagelin with the Stockholm police concerning his daughter's "disappearance". On 3 July 2001, the Chief Prosecutor in Sweden, Tomas Lindstrand, said that he was working on a preliminary investigation of the Dagmar Hagelin case and that "it is still too soon" to know if there will be a request by Sweden for the arrest or extradition of former Captain Astiz. The 25-year statute of limitations in Sweden for the crime of kidnapping expired in January 2002.