ANCA WELCOMES AXA SETTLEMENT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ERA INSURANCE CLAIMS
Pan Armenian
14.10.2005 20:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Committee of America welcomed
the settlement of a class action lawsuit against AXA Insurance company,
allowing descendents of Armenian Genocide era insurance policy holders
to seek the assets denied to them for far too long. The historic case
is the second of its kind, following the New York Life Insurance
class action case settled in February, 2004. In both cases, the
heirs of genocide-era claim holders were represented by Yeghiayan and
Associates, Geragos and Geragos, and Kabateck Brown Kellner. To place
this settlement in its proper context, it is important to note that,
while the heirs and grandchildren of Genocide-era policy holders will
now receive some small portion of those funds, we should remember that
those monies were not available when these orphans of the Genocide
needed them the most. Instead, they were collecting interest in AXA
coffers and remained there for some 90 years until this corrective
action was taken. The European affiliates of the ANCA played an
important role in educating the European citizenry in general and
the Armenian community in particular regarding the AXA case, through
a media outreach and a far-reaching email campaign. As part of this
effort, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy
(EAFJD) initiated a petition campaign to AXA France Supervisory
Board Chairman Claude Bebear, urging the firm to accept a fair
settlement that would extend a measure of dignity and recognition
to the victims wrongfully denied their property for the past nine
decades. The Armenian American community expects a fair, effective,
and orderly claims process be put in place that fully accounts for
each policyholder and appropriately disburses funds to European
Armenian charities and organizations with a long-standing record
of fighting for the rights of the descendants of Armenian Genocide
victims. While the AXA case is significant in that it recognizes the
legitimacy of the insurance claims of Armenian Genocide victims, it
is by no means related to any claims for the deaths, thefts, bodily
harm, and real and personal property confiscation undertaken by the
government of Ottoman Turkey and the Republic of Turkey between 1915
and 1923, the liability and responsibilities for which continue to
be held by the modern day government of Turkey. Nor does the damages
calculation assigned in this case relate in any way to those claims,
which continue to remain outstanding