Editing ARA General Belgrano (section)

==Aftermath==

In August 1994, an official Argentine Defence Ministry report written by armed forces auditor Eugenio Miari<ref name="Guardian war crimes">{{cite news |last=Chaudhary |first=Vivek |title=Argentina calls for 'war crimes' trials |date=10 August 1994 |page=7}}</ref> was released which described the sinking of ''General Belgrano'' as "a legal act of war", explaining that "acts of war can be carried out in all of the enemy's territory" and "they can also take place in those areas over which no state can claim sovereignty, in international waters".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=&docId=IF502064289&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 |last=Prentice |first=Eve-Ann |title=Argentina says Belgrano sinking was lawful act of war |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=11 August 1994 |page=11}}</ref> Argentinian veterans were said{{who|date=February 2017}} to be dismayed at the conclusion about ''General Belgrano'', and the President of the Federation of Argentine War Veterans Luis Ibáñez hoped to produce more witnesses to show that the sinking was a [[war crime]].<ref name="Guardian war crimes" />

In 1999 Sir [[Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce|Michael Boyce]], First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, visited the [[Puerto Belgrano]] naval base and paid tribute to those who died.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=144441 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120903144509/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=144441 |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 September 2012 |title=Gesto británico en el mar Gesto británico en el mar |work=La Nación |location=Argentina |language=es |access-date=2 December 2011 }}</ref> In 2003 a search team aboard ''Seacor Lenga'',<ref>[http://www.histarmar.com.ar/Remolcadores/OFFshore/SeacorLenga.htm ''Seacor Lenga''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321055514/http://www.histarmar.com.ar/Remolcadores/OFFshore/SeacorLenga.htm |date=21 March 2008 }} (ship details, '''Spanish''')</ref> crewed by Argentine and British veterans, was sponsored by [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] to find the sunken cruiser but failed to locate it. The area where ''General Belgrano'' sank, though not found, is classified as a war grave under [[Argentine Congress]] law 25.546.<ref name="lanacion.com.ar">{{cite web |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=481032 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904192427/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=481032 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 September 2012 |title=No hallaron al ARA ''General Belgrano'' |work=La Nación |location=Argentina |language=es |date=15 March 2003 |access-date=2 December 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=481169 |title=Llegó a puerto el Seacor Lenga |work=La Nación |location=Argentina |language=es |date=16 March 2003 |access-date=2 December 2011 |archive-date=6 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506102504/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=481169 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2000, lawyers representing the families of the sailors killed onboard ''General Belgrano'' attempted to sue the British government in the [[European Court of Human Rights]] on the grounds that the attack took place outside the exclusion zone.<ref name="UK sued">{{cite news|title=UK sued over Belgrano sinking|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/812146.stm|access-date=2 January 2013|newspaper=BBC News|date=29 June 2000}}</ref> It was an attempt to pressure the Argentine government to lodge an action against the UK in the [[International Court of Justice]], but was ruled inadmissible by the Court of Human Rights on the grounds that it had been submitted too late.<ref name="legal action fails">{{cite news|title=Belgrano legal action fails|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/841663.stm|access-date=2 January 2013|newspaper=BBC News|date=19 July 2000}}</ref>

''[[La Nación (Buenos Aires)|La Nación]]'' in 2005 published a reader's letter from admiral {{Interlanguage link|Enrique Molina Pico|es}}, who had been head of the Argentine Navy in the 1990s, saying that ''General Belgrano'' was part of an operation that posed a real threat to the British task force, but was holding off for tactical reasons. Molina Pico added that "To leave the exclusion zone was not to leave the combat zone to enter a protected area". Molina Pico explicitly stated that the sinking was not a war crime, but a combat action.<ref name="http">{{cite web |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=700676 |title=Cartas de lectores Crucero Gral. Belgrano |work=La Nación |location=Argentina |language=es |access-date=2 December 2011 |archive-date=6 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506024558/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=700676 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''General Belgrano''{{'}}s captain, Héctor Bonzo, died on 22 April 2009, aged 76. He had spent his last years working for an association called ''Amigos del Crucero General Belgrano'' (Friends of the Cruiser General Belgrano) whose purpose was to help those affected by the sinking.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1121198 |title=Murió el comandante del crucero General Belgrano |work=La Nación |location=Argentina |language=es |access-date=2 December 2011 |archive-date=24 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424065708/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1121198 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bonzo also wrote his memories about the sinking in the book ''1093 Tripulantes del Crucero ARA General Belgrano'', published in 1992. In this book he wrote that it is "improper to accept that (...) the attack by [[HMS Conqueror (S48)|HMS ''Conqueror'']] was a betrayal".{{sfnp|Bonzo|2004|p=402 | ps=: Como mucho de lo que se dijo fue objetivamente desacertado, en todas mi exposiciones desde el término de la guerra traté de dejarlo en claro. Tanto es impropio aceptar que el Crucero ARA ''General Belgrano'' estaba paseando por los mares del sur, como decir que el ataque del HMS ''Conqueror'' fue a traición.}} During an interview in 2003 he had stated that ''General Belgrano'' was only temporarily sailing to the west at the time of the attack, and his orders were to attack any British ships that came within range.<ref name="trigger happy">{{cite news|last=Beaumont|first=Peter|title=Belgrano crew 'trigger happy'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/may/25/uk.world|access-date=2 January 2013|newspaper=The Observer|date=25 May 2003}}</ref>

In late 2011, major David Thorp, a former British military intelligence officer who led the signals interception team aboard {{HMS|Intrepid|L11|6}}, released the book ''The Silent Listener'' detailing the role of intelligence in the Falklands War. In the book he said that, although ''General Belgrano'' was observed by ''Conqueror'' to be sailing away from the Falklands at the time of the attack, she had actually been ordered to proceed to a rendezvous point within the exclusion zone.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8965405/Belgrano-was-heading-to-the-Falklands-secret-papers-reveal.html |title=Belgrano was heading to the Falklands, secret papers reveal |first=Thomas |last=Harding |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=26 December 2011 |location=London}}</ref> A report prepared by Thorp for Thatcher several months after the incident stated the destination of the vessel was not to her home port as the Argentine junta stated; the report was not released because the prime minister did not want to compromise British signals intelligence capabilities.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/Belgrano-heading-Falklands-papers-reveal/story-14259697-detail/story.html |work=Western Morning News |publisher=This Is South Devon |title=Belgrano was heading to Falklands, papers reveal |date=28 December 2011 |access-date=29 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229043654/http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/Belgrano-heading-Falklands-papers-reveal/story-14259697-detail/story.html |archive-date=29 December 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In 2012 the president of Argentina, [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]], referred to the sinking of ''General Belgrano'' as a "war crime".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.eltribuno.info/salta/154893-Cristina-Lo-del-Belgrano-fue-un-crimen-de-guerra.note.aspx |publisher=El Tribuno |title=Cristina: 'Lo del Belgrano fue un crimen de Guerra' |date=3 May 2012}}</ref> However, the Argentine Navy has held the view that the sinking was a legitimate act of war,<ref name="auto"/> a position that was asserted by the Argentine Navy before various courts in 1995, and by the vessel's captain Hector Bonzo in 2003.<ref name="http"/>