France, March 30 -- The Paris administrative court ruled last Friday that French authorities had not only provided the soldier's family with false information in the years following his death, but had subsequently failed to use all available means to establish the precise circumstances of his death or the location of his burial.

While the court acknowledged it could not rule on the death itself due to the statute of limitations, it found that the state's failure to investigate amounted to a fault giving rise to liability.

The tribunal awarded €10,000 in damages to the soldier's son, who brought the case to court last June, accusing the French state of concealing mass graves and blocking justice.

The massacre took place ...