Crimes Bill Defeat Dismays Nazi Hunters

Dismayed Nazi hunters today denounced defeat in the House of Lords of a government bill that would have allowed prosecutions of suspected war criminals. They said some of “Hitler’s worst henchmen” live in Britain.

The 207-74 vote by the unelected upper chamber to throw out a measure that had been overwhelmingly adopted by the elected House of Commons also set off a constitutional conflict.

The vote just after midnight, following nine hours of emotional debate, left Britain the only one of the World War II Allies without laws to prosecute suspected war criminals.

Canada and Australia have changed their laws to allow trials, and the United States has deported suspects for trial.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which submitted a list of suspects to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1986, said it is “deeply upset.”

“I think it is unthinkable that this country, which suffered so much at the hands of the Nazis, continues to give a haven to some of Hitler’s worst henchmen,” said Ephraim Zuroff, head of the Israeli section of the Los Angeles-based Wiesenthal Center.

Zuroff, in London for the debate, said he will submit more names of British-resident suspects to the government this week.

The Lords’ action was a rare break with the popularly elected House of Commons.

The Lords’ powers are limited to delaying bills for a year, and the government now must decide whether to reintroduce the bill in the autumn and force it through the Lords under a rarely used parliamentary rule.

Traditionally, the Lords only revise clauses, and never reject outright legislation passed by the House of Commons. The Commons passed the bill by a 270-60 majority in December.

The vote followed an inquiry by a government-appointed commission that said there is enough evidence to prosecute three suspects for murder and investigate another 124. The suspects allegedly helped round up and murder thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Soviet republics.