A former Argentine general accused of kidnapping and killing civilians in his country was told his refusal to answer lawyers' questions would harm him in a U.S. civil suit by a former prisoner. U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti told Carlos Suarez Mason on Wednesday that if he continued his silence, any fact he was asked about would be considered true for the purposes of the $20 million lawsuit. Suarez Mason, who is fighting extradition to Argentina, defied an order by a federal magistrate earlier this week and refused to answer questions about his alleged responsibility for atrocities in military prisons during the late 1970s. The proposed questions include whether Suarez Mason had authority to order torture and executions at prisons run by the First Army Corps, which he commanded from 1976 to 1979. The former general said Monday he would not answer questions without having a lawyer. The issue of whether the lawyer Suarez Mason has hired for the extradition case must also represent him in three civil suits without additional pay is now before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Conti told the lawyers to submit written questions and ordered Suarez Mason to be ready to answer on March 28, a day before the scheduled trial of the civil suit and a week after his scheduled extradition hearing before another judge. Suarez Mason, 63, is charged in Argentina with 43 murders and 24 kidnappings of civilians, allegedly committed by soldiers under his command during the so-called ``dirty war'' against suspected leftists. He fled Argentina after a civilian government came to power in 1983 and was arrested in January 1987 at his home in Foster City, south of San Francisco. He is being held without bail. Three civil suits have been filed against him by former Argentinians now living in the United States, who say they were tortured or their relatives were killed by soldiers under the general's command. U.S. courts have allowed damage suits for acts committed abroad in violation of international law by a foreigner who is physicially in the court's district.
