7 October 1970

The March 1970 kidnapping and murder of German diplomat Karl von Spreti in Guatemala was considered as a case study in diplomatic kidnappings. The Vienna Convention was cited as a source of diplomatic legal obligations, particularly Article 29 which requires states to take “all possible measures to protect diplomats from attack.” Although the pattern of the Guatemalan case was very different, the Task Force concluded that a key lesson to be drawn from the von Spreti kidnapping was the importance of negotiating with the kidnappers.