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Axa Compensates Genocide Descendents

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  • Axa Compensates Genocide Descendents

    AXA COMPENSATES GENOCIDE DESCENDENTS
    By Julien Le Bot

    France24
    http://www.france24.com/france24Publ ic/en/news/world/20080107-Armenia-genocide-Axa-des cendents-compensation.html
    Jan 7 2008
    France

    Thousands of people of Armenian descent may make claims under a life
    insurance policy signed before World War I. The Axa insurance company
    has conceded to global compensation of 17.5 million US dollars.

    Axa is legally responsible for contracts signed with the Union-Vie
    insurance company before World War I, over 90 years ago. Axa has been
    therefore obligated to honour its engagements and pay compensation
    to the descendants of Armenians who had signed insurance policies
    and were killed in the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire
    from 1915 to 1916.

    "Money is not the essential issue here," Alexis Govciyan, chairman
    of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of France and
    president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union of Europe, told
    FRANCE 24. "The compensation is symbolic, since it amounts to about
    2,000 dollars per family. We are proud of the work accomplished by
    our lawyers."

    As many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed from 1915 to 1916 in
    the Ottoman Empire during what is considered as the first genocide of
    the 20th century. Their descendants have had difficulties obtaining
    compensation.

    January 7, 2008 marks a step toward recognition. Descendants of
    the victims who signed an insurance policy will be able to claim
    compensation. The insurance has remained unpaid until today.

    Following a 2005 decision in a class action suit in the USA, three
    American lawyers are seeking to find inheritors of Armenians who were
    insured by Union-Vie, a defunct French company acquired by Axa in 1996.

    The Armenian genocide remains a controversial political and diplomatic
    issue, since the Turks refuse to use the term "genocide", instead
    referring to the incident as a reprisal. The matter of indemnities,
    therefore, is symbolically important.

    Axa is not alone

    "Of the 7,000 files relevant to the case," explains Govciyan,
    "just over one thousand applications have been sent in. A third of
    the claimants live in France, a third in Armenia and the remaining
    third are part of the worldwide diaspora."

    The Union-Vie life insurance claims by genocide victims are not
    unique. On the other side of the Atlantic, Vartkes Yeghiayan, a
    Californian of Armenian descent who is one of the lawyers working on
    the Axa case, negotiated 20 million US dollars in reparations from
    New York Life in January 2004, resolving 2,000 Armenian claims. To
    achieve this goal, he did research all over Europe and found about
    30 descendants of policy holders.

    The Union-Vie company has never concealed the fact that at the end of
    the World War I they had more than 10,000 Armenian insurance holders.

    The matter was put aside, but about 30 years later, they began to
    take responsibility for these outstanding policies.

    Lawyers representing the descendants of the genocide victims used
    California laws to bring the Axa case to a Los Angeles court. In
    October 2005, an agreement was reached.

    Axa agreed to pay a lump sum of 17.5 million US dollars. The
    descendants were to split 11 million dollars; 3 million dollars went
    to humanitarian organizations (the Armenian General Benevolent Union,
    the Blue Cross and the French-Armenian Fund); and the rest went to
    the lawyers.

    For Axa, the matter is closed. "The money has been returned to
    the descendants. We have no comment on the ruling," said an Axa
    spokesperson.

    According to Govciyan, Deutsche Bank is the next in line to be
    approached on the matter of indemnities.
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