ACTIVISTS PURSUE GENOCIDE PAYMENT
By Zain Shauk
Glendale News Press
September 23, 2009
Armenian activists believe they can sway a split 3-judge appellate
panel to collect insurance.
Published: Last Updated Wednesday, September 23, 2009 10:02 PM PDT
SOUTH GLENDALE — Armenian activists insisted Wednesday that a recent
federal appeals court ruling would not stop them from seeking payments
from life insurance companies on the policies of those killed in the
Armenian Genocide.
Representatives from the Armenian National Committee and Armenian Youth
Federation, among other groups, assured attendees during a town hall
meeting at St. Mary’s Apostolic Church that the lawsuit’s plaintiffs,
which number in the thousands, would win a favorable decision from
the court as the group fights a recent legal hurdle.
The group’s goal is to sway a split three-judge appellate panel,
attorney Mark Geragos said.
"We’re hoping it just takes one vote," he said of plans for an appeal.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 20 that descendants
of Armenian Genocide victims could not request payment from insurance
companies, despite a state law that allowed them to do so, because
it would interfere with U.S. foreign policy.
"The federal government has made a conscious decision not to apply
the politically charged label of ‘genocide’ to the deaths of these
Armenians during World War I," said Judge David R. Thompson, who wrote
the majority opinion in the ruling. "Whether or not California agrees
with this decision, it may not contradict it."
That logic, agreed to by two of the three judges on the appellate
panel, drew harsh criticism not only from town hall attendees, but also
from Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who has written legislation to push
for national acknowledgment of the genocide and, as an state senator,
co-wrote California’s law allowing the descendants of genocide victims
to claim insurance benefits.
"The problem with that is that there is no federal policy against
genocide recognition and there has ne s week to reconsider its ruling.
Congress has considered three resolutions in the last decade that would
have paved the way for official recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
But the White House has worked to kill each effort, fearing they
would damage relations with Turkey, which denies a genocide took place.
The U.S. government currently has no official position on the mass
killings of 1.5 million Armenians that occurred between 1915 and 1923
in Ottoman Turkey.
"I think when they examine the record more closely, they’ll realize
that the court made a poor judgment, not based on the facts or the
law," Schiff said.
Lawsuits from genocide victims have yielded a combined total of $37
million in settlements from two firms, New York Life Insurance Co. in
2004 and AXA S.A. in 2005.
Glendale priest Vazken Movsesian, of St. Peter Armenian Church, filed a
case six years ago seeking a settlement of claims under policies issued
by German insurers Victoria Versicherung and Ergo Versicherungsgruppe,
as well as parent company Munchener Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG.
Thousands of Armenians whose relatives were genocide victims also
joined in the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs scored a partial victory two years ago when
U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder said the law passed in 2000 by
the California Legislature gave the descendants standing to sue. But
that ruling was overturned by the appellate court.
Town hall organizers hoped their forum would give stakeholders
confidence despite the recent court ruling, said Zanku Armenian,
chairman of the Armenian National Committee Glendale chapter.
"It’s a legal matter that often times [includes] complicated matters
and so it’s important to get the community to understand both what
transpired, what the implications of the court decisions are, as well
as what the potential avenues for them are, in terms of appeals,"
Armenian said.
Representatives for Shant Student Assn. and the Armenian Bar
Assn. participated in the town hall discussion, bringing more than
100 pe ys.
An overwhelming majority of those in the audience had no direct ties
to the outcome of the case, but were interested nonetheless, they said.
The court’s ruling to block the push for a settlement on insurance
claims was unfair because a law was in place to allow similar suits,
La Crescenta resident Caroline Tashejian said.
"Taking it back, it pushes us further back, in terms of progressing
our cause," she said.
Sylvia Natalie Manoogian, of Los Angeles, had benefited from the New
York Life settlement and came to learn more about what she said was
an unfortunate appellate court ruling.
Her family, which received $20,000 in the New York Life settlement,
claims to own property within modern Turkey’s borders, but has not
been able to secure it.
She saw the battle for life insurance claims and genocide recognition
first hand, she said.
"The more information I have, the more it gives me tools and means
[for moving forward]," she said.