Argentina Indicts Ex-Ford Managers in “Dirty War” Case

A federal court in Buenos Aires has indicted three former Ford Motor Co. executives for crimes against humanity for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of 24 of the company's workers by Argentina's military junta in 1976.

The accused are Ford Argentina's former manufacturing chief Pedro Muller, labor relations director Guillermo Galarraga and security head Hector Jesus Sibilla. All are now in their 80s.

The judge charged the three with telling the junta about workers with strong union ties. She alleges the managers then allowed the military to set up an interrogation center at a Ford factory where some of the victims were beaten. The workers were imprisoned and tortured but eventually released.

Ford says it is cooperating with the authorities.

The indictments are part of Argentina's effort to convict corporate collaborators in human rights abuses during the country's so-called "Dirty War" in 1976-1983. Daimler AG faces charges similar to those against Ford in a U.S. lawsuit in California.