MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Davidoff's South Georgia claim definitively closed

An Argentine court closed an old chapter of the South Atlantic conflict when it rejected a claim against the United Kingdom from a businessman who was forcibly evicted from South Georgia in 1982 following the flying of an Argentine flag, an episode that is blamed for the precipitation of the armed confrontation, reports the Buenos Aires press.

An Administrative Contentious Appeals Court threw out a compensation claim from Constantino Davidoff who had been contracted by a Scottish company to dismount three South Georgia former whaling plants and was ousted by the British when one of the labourers raised an Argentine flag.

This proved the excuse for the Argentine military junta of the time reaction: the April 2 Falklands landing.

The court decision revealed a fact apparently unknown until now: a few months after taking office former president Carlos Menem and the British government signed a document by which both sides desisted from any claims originated in war actions.

Mr. Davidoff appealed to the Argentine courts asking compensation "for damages and losses caused by dependent personnel from the defendant country which impeded him from going ahead with the commercial activities he was involved in".

However two decades later two Argentine judges ruled out the claim arguing the "lack of jurisdiction of Argentine courts", which was "clearly evident" from the start of the demand.

"War is an armed conflict between countries" and any compensation can only be achieved through international law and international courts, points out the ruling insisting that losses occurred during an armed conflict, no matter if there was a formal war declaration or similar qualification according to laws governing armed conflicts.

However in spite of disavow, the court in three opportunities acknowledges Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas, "there's no doubt the incidents occurred in Argentine territory". It's not the territory that matters "undoubtedly Argentine" but the nature of the conduct attributed to the defendant, "the recovery of our Islas Malvinas".

The three mentions belong to Judge Coviello who according to Argentine sources had a military background before becoming a lawyer and eventually joining the judicial system.

Britain never showed up for the Davidoff case and when summoned diplomatically alleged "immunity" arguing the Islands are British.

"The territory where allegedly the events occurred was and is according to the involved dates under British sovereignty and administration. Who exercised and currently exercises sovereignty is undoubtedly the United Kingdom which considers that territory as its own", was the Buenos Aires British Embassy reply, quoted in the Argentine press.

Mr. Davidoff's company was named "Georgias del Sur S.A:" and had been contracted by the Edinburgh based company Christian Salvensen Ltd. to break up and ship the remains of three former whaling stations.

The business operation at the time was under the umbrella of the Investment Promotion and Protection accord between Argentina and Great Britain.

On March 19, 1982 the Argentines landed in South Georgia to begin the job arriving in an Argentine Navy transport, "Bahía del Buen Suceso".

And not much later witnessed the event which many historians believe triggered the beginning of the war.