The case is being brought by the Gypsy International Recognition
and Compensation Action, (GIRCA), an association of over 600 Gypsy
organisations.
The lawsuit is apparently based on IBM's alleged provision of
the punch-cards and early computing devices that allowed Nazi
Germany to organise the attempted extermination of Jews and Gypsies
of Europe.
According to GIRCA's web site, New York-based IBM ran the
operation from an "unregistered establishment" named "International
Business Machines Corp. New York, European Headquarters", which
opened in 1935 at 14, Mont-Blanc Street, Geneva.
The legal action was lodged in the Geneva First Instance Court
on 31st January 2002, and preliminary hearings will start on 20th
March 2003. According to GIRCA, the aim of the lawsuit is "to make
Swiss Courts recognise the complicity of IBM with the crimes
against humanity committed between 1933 and 1945."
GIRCA claims that, if successful, the lawsuit would bring
compensation to the few living Gypsy Holocaust survivors, and fund
health and educational projects for impoverished Gypsies in
Europe.
Gypsies have long argued that, although they are the poorest
ethnic group in Europe, they have been excluded from recent
Holocaust compensation settlements in Germany and Switzerland.
IBM was sued in the past by Jewish Holocaust survivors over
similar allegations, but the case was dropped following fears that
it could block a settlement between Germany and Switzerland on
other Holocaust compensation claims.
