INFORMATION - for the participants in the Paris process

THE PARIS PROCESS - SWEDEN AND FRANCE REPORTED TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR VIOLATING HUMAN RIGHTS

On September 17^th 1996 a summons was delivered to the court in the Paris suburb Nanterre.

More than 1300 relatives of victims in the Estonia ferryboat disaster sued the French classification society, Bureau Veritas, the German shipyard Jos. L. Meyer Werft and the Swedish National Maritime Administration (Sjöfartsverket) as joint responsible for the M/V Estonia sinking. Further eight parties were sued in recovery.

Sweden and France as well as less than independent judges, the defendants and insurance companies have during the past ten years successfully blocked the process. No progress has been made and the many relatives of Estonia victims who participate have not seen any return on the considerable amount of money that was invested other than hard to understand papers from the Court and a lack of information about what is going on.

The two countries have with the weight of authority, i.e. political power, prevented a normal run of the case. This is the background for the complaint which on August 14^th this year was presented to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The complaint accuses Sweden and France for violation of the European Convention on Human Rights mainly regarding Article 6 stipulating “ … everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time…”.

In an initiative supported by the Estonia organisations Klaus Müller at the German Human Rights organisation CURARE e.V. and the lawyer Armin Demuth have, without any compensation, set up the complaint. Helje Kaskel signed as plaintiff. She lost her husband in the Estonia disaster, is a plaintiff in the Paris process and is also chairman of ELA, Estonia Litigation Association, an organisation for those who participate in that process.(Note: as of September 2007, over 100 other relatives have joined the case.)

If the case results in a postive outcome

- it may contribute to the development of a very urgent matter – the truth about the sinking of Estonia

- it may result in a Court ruling regarding compensation (as has recently happened in a similar violation of Article 6)

For this reason it is very important that all who participate in the Paris process are made aware of

• the possibility that the matter of compensation may be raised by the Court
  

• the possibility of joining the case before the European Court of Human Rights
  

For information on how to join, terms etc. please contact

Klaus Müller
CURARE e.V.
Postfach 1111
D-21785 Neuhaus/Oste
Germany

Phone/Fax Int+49 4777 800 639 (early morning)

E-mail: m-mueller-neuhaus@freenet.de

The document compiled by Bertil Calamnius of AgnEf and SEA.