CEDH · PRESS;ADMISSIBILITYDECISIONS;ENG — 13 juillet 2007

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } .s2C7B3542 { font-family:Arial; font-size:10pt; color:#0000ff } .s22F01CEB { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-18pt } .sB853CD33 { font-family:Arial; font-size:7pt } .sC7EAD8B { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS     508   13.07.07   Press release issued by the Registrar   Thiermann and Others v. Norway declared inadmissible   The European Court of Human Rights has declared inadmissible the application lodged in the case of Thiermann and Others v. Norway (application no. 18712/03).   The decision – which is available only in English – is available today on the Court’s Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).   The applicants   The application was brought by 154 Norwegian nationals, four Swedish nationals and one German national – all have a Norwegian mother and a German father and were born during the Second World War. A number of them were registered as children of “ Lebensborn ”, a Nazi scheme, introduced by Heinrich Himmler in 1935, to create children who were deemed racially and genetically pure.   Summary of the facts   Between late 1940 and 8 May   1945 between 10,000 and 12,000 children were born in Norway with a Norwegian mother and a German father. They were referred to as “war children” ( krigsbarn ).   Towards the end of the war and thereafter, various public officials, notably clergymen and doctors, publicly denounced the war children, claiming that they were mentally and genetically defective and potential Nazi sympathisers.   The applicants claimed that many mothers of war children were marginalised, had great difficulties obtaining employment and often had their children adopted or placed in foster homes or in institutions. Many war children were deprived of their original names and identity, subjected to discrimination, harassment and ill-treatment and left with psychological problems and registered disabled at an early age. Some were placed in psychiatric institutions without adequate prior expert assessment and several were refused baptism certificates.   In his New Year speech to the Norwegian people on 1 January 2000 the Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, apologised for the discrimination and injustice to which many war children had been subjected.   As war children, the applicants claimed to have been subjected to various forms of ill-treatment, harassment and discrimination, including:               Werner Hermann Thiermann (born in 1941) was locked up in a scorching-hot pig sty with another war child for a day because they “stank”. Although almost unconscious on being released, they were then scrubbed with a piassava brush, water and ammoniac. He was harassed with impunity and, aged nine, with his teacher’s blessing, was raped by older boys at school.               Harriet von Nickel (born 1942) was regularly locked up, and sometimes attached with a dog chain, to wait for her foster father to come home and hit her. Aged nine or ten she had a swastika marked on her forehead with a nail.               Anne-Marie Grübe (born 1944) was regularly beaten by her grandmother and her aunts and frequently imprisoned in her home.               Gerd Synnøve Andersen (born 1944) was washed with scalding hot water in her children’s home. During her sixth school year a teacher sexually abused her in front of the whole class. When she married, the priest recommended that she be sterilised.               Karl Otto Zinken (born in 1941) was placed in a special school for mentally retarded children where he was raped by two men.               Tove Laila Strand (born in 1941) was burnt by her mother with an iron and sexually abused by her stepfather aged six to 15.               Paul Hansen, (born in April 1942) was placed in psychiatric institutions until 1965 without his mental health being assessed.   On 10 December 1999 these seven applicants brought unsuccessful proceedings before Oslo City Court, claiming that, as war children, they had been the victims of violations of Articles 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights. On 16 November 2001 the court found, in particular, that the applicants’ compensation claims had been submitted too late (notably after the expiry of a statutory 20-year time limit).   By a judgment of 21 June 2002 the High Court unanimously upheld the City Court’s judgment. On 11 December 2002, the Appeals Selection Committee of the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal. A number of the other applicants also brought proceedings which were stayed pending a legally enforceable decision in the case brought by the first seven applicants.   Complaints   The applicants complained about the treatment they endured as war children, as well as the authorities’ failure to take any remedial measures subsequently. They claimed the violations were continuing in the sense that they were still reminded in negative terms of their origin and value. They relied on Articles 3, 8 and 14 of the Convention.   Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 10 June 2003. The Court held a hearing on the admissibility and merits of the case on 8 March 2007.   ***   Press contacts Emma Hellyer (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15) Stéphanie Klein (telephone: 00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Tracey Turner-Tretz (telephone : 00 33 (0)3 88 41 35 30)   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.