Argentine court convicts former Ford executives for 'Dirty War' rights abuses

By Cassandra Garrison and Nicolás Misculin

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - An Argentine court has convicted two former executives of a local Ford Motor Co plant of involvement in the abduction and torture of company workers during the country's dictatorship in the 1970s, lawyers representing the victims said on Tuesday.

The plaintiffs may try to sue Ford in U.S. federal courts, one of the lawyers said in a telephone interview.

Ford Argentina said in a statement it was not part of the case and had participated fully with local prosecutors. Ford officials in the United States could not immediately be reached for comment.

The case concerns the 1976 kidnapping and torture of 24 workers employed by Ford at their factory on the outskirts of Buenos Aires during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

 

Former local Ford executives Pedro Muller and Hector Sibilla were sentenced to 10 and 12 years in prison, respectively, for their involvement in the crimes, Elizabeth Gomez Alcorta, a lawyer representing the victims, told Reuters after the sentencing.

Muller and Sibilla "provided the means necessary" for agents of the dictatorship to identify key members of the labour union that represented factory workers "so they could be detained," according to a statement from Argentina's official judiciary information agency.

Asked about next steps, Tomas Ojea Quintana, another lawyer for victims, said they were considering suing Ford Motor Co in the United States.

"It is clear that Ford Motor Company had control of the Argentinian subsidiary during the '70s. Therefore, there is a direct responsibility of Ford Motor Company and that might give us the possibility to bring the case to the U.S. courts," he said.

(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison and Nicolas Misculin, additional reporting by Ben Klayman, writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Ross Colvin and Richard Chang)