STUTTGART, Germany, Oct 28 (Reuters) - German automaker DaimlerChrysler AG said on Monday it had set up an independent inquiry into the unexplained disappearance of 14 workers' council representatives in Argentina in the 1970s.
The move follows pressure from activist shareholders who have drawn attention to the suspected murder and torture of Daimler-Benz labour council members under the military dictatorship in Argentina in 1975-1978.
DaimlerChrysler's board has appointed an investigating commission headed by Berlin legal expert Christian Tomuschat to establish what happened to the 14 workers' representatives, the head of its current workers' council said on Monday.
"You cannot let such an accusation stand," workers' council chief Erich Klemm said in Stuttgart. The investigation is due to to end in September next year.
The Association of Critical Shareholders has alleged that a German manager at the Mercedes plant in Gonzalez Catan gave the Argentine military the address of at least one workers' council member in 1977 who later disappeared amid widespread killings of leftwingers.
In April, DaimlerChrysler said it would invite human rights group Amnesty International to investigate allegations about its links to the disappearances.
Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler in 1998 to become DaimlerChrysler AG.