BALTIC STATES RECEIVE MIXED MARKS FOR NAZI PROSECUTION. The Simon Wiesenthal Center gave Lithuania and Latvia "C" grades in its annual "Worldwide Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals" report (see above), while Estonia received a "D." Only two of the 39 countries listed in the report were given grades of "A" or "B." The center termed "encouraging" the opening of 24 new investigations of possible Nazi war criminals in Lithuania, second only to Italy for the period reviewed, but noted that "to this day...not a single Lithuanian Nazi war criminal has ever sat one day in jail." Latvia was criticized for its failure "to take legal action against a single Holocaust perpetrator" despite the "large number of Latvian Nazi war criminals and collaborators still alive all over the world." Estonia, meanwhile, exhibits a "total lack of political will" to prosecute war criminals, according to the report. The report noted the positive results of the center's "Operation: Last Chance," which was launched in the Baltic states in July 2002. The operation, which offers financial rewards for information leading to the investigation and conviction of Nazi war criminals, has led to the naming of 174 suspects in Lithuania, 37 in Latvia, and six in Estonia.

Source: RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 142, Part II, 29 July 2003

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