Gypsy International Recognition and Compensation Action (GIRCA) v. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
This case summary is being revised and will be updated soon
| Court |
Federal Supreme Court, Switzerland |
| Case number |
4C.113/2006 /ech |
| Decision title |
Arrêt du 14 août 2006 |
| Decision date |
14 August 2006 |
| Parties |
- Gypsy International Recognition and Compensation Action (GIRCA)
- International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
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| Other names |
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| Categories |
Crimes against humanity |
| Keywords |
accountability (private contractors), crimes against humanity, Murder, World War II |
| Links |
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back to topProcedural history
In a lawsuit filed in a Swiss court of first instance in 2001, five plaintiffs orphaned during the Holocaust, sought compensation from IBM. The lawsuit claimed that IBM assisted the Nazis during the Holocaust by providing punch card machines and technology used in the identification, monitoring and killing of Gypsies (Roma).
On 22 December 2004, a federal court overruled the decision of the lower court not to allow the case to proceed. However, the case was dismissed in 2005 after a court found that the statute of limitations had elapsed. This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2006.
A separate lawsuit filed in the US in 2001 based on the same alleged complicity in crimes against humanity was eventually dropped. (For the complaint, see here.)
