UN Human Rights Committee destroys the hopes of Nazi victims, Sechremelis v Greece, 1507/2006

The UN Human Rights Committee followed the line of the ECtHR and the ECJ, and dismissed the hopes of Greek families to get compensation for the massacre of their relatives by the Nazis in case Sechremelis et al. v Greece, 1507/2006.

In this particular case the Nazis massacred the respective relatives in Distomo on 10/06/1944, and the Greek Court of Cassation confirmed their right to compensation from Germany on 26/03/2000. However the enforcement of such judgment against a foreign State is subjected to consent of the Minister of Justice. In this case he didn’t agree (§ 10.2).

The Committee “noted” two reasons for this View in § 10.5:

1) This limitation on enforcement does not impair the very essence of the right to an effective judicial protection.

2) It may not be excluded that the Greek judgment could be enforced sometime in the indefinite future.

3/14 Committee members dissented.