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Europe's unfinished business – property restitution Throughout much of the last century, individuals and religious communities in Central and Eastern Europe were despoiled of their private property by fascist and communist regimes. Most of the victims lost everything they and their families had onerously built up over many generations. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, a decade ago, hope has inspired those who lost so much to believe that prior injustices, including the seizure of private property, would be addressed according to international laws by the new so called “democratic” governments. Essentially, the above mentioned seizures of property occurred in context of religious persecution, suppression of religious freedom, denial of human rights and civil liberties and ultimately genocide. The victims who seek property restitution today are basically striving for justice for the oppression and persecution they and their families suffered under totalitarian rule. Due to the sensitivity of this issue the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the Council of Europe and European Parliament have time and again called for property restitution or respectively to pay a prompt, just and effective compensation. Although most countries (except Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) have adopted restitution or compensation laws, the laws often do not resolve property claims in a satisfactory manner. Instead of restituting unlawfully confiscated properties several countries (e.g. Germany, Croatia, the Czech Republic, etc,) have preferred to continue the unjust practices of the previous regimes by selling those properties under state control, bypassing the original owners with norms containing discriminatory provisions regarding residency and citizenship requirements or explicitly precluding the restitution of properties which were confiscated during a certain period of time or restricting rights of inheritance. In the event that an indemnification in lieu of restitution is envisaged a pittance (frequently only 1%) of the actual value of the chattels is payable in 10 to 20 years, leaving the victims to wonder if they will ever have a sensation of closure during their lifetime. Nevertheless, the basic rule that wrongfully expropriated property should be restituted or compensated still applies to them all and the implementation of this criterion will no doubt be a measure of the extent to which they have successfully adopted democratic principles such as the rule of law with respect to property rights. Overcoming inequities of the past will help lay the foundation necessary to prevent history repeating itself. Cologne, 09.01.2000 |
This page compliments of Paolo Benoli and Alexandra Mareschi Created: Sunday, February 20, 2000. Last Updated: Sunday,
February 20, 2000. |
