“Faster progress is needed to fulfil the rights of relatives of the missing in Cyprus,” a delegation of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances said on Tuesday at the end of an official visit at the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. Moreover, the UN delegation, comprising Luciano Hazan, Aua Balde and Henrikas Mickevicius, stressed the need to depoliticise the issue of missing persons in Cyprus and genuinely treat it as a human rights and humanitarian issue.
“While recognizing the considerable achievements, notably due to the longstanding work of the bi-communal Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus, the search progress has slowed down in recent years and significant challenges still remain,” they observed.
Moreover, the experts called for urgent measures to accelerate the excavations, identification and return of the remains of the missing “as decades after the events of 1963/64 and 1974, too many relatives are passing away without knowing the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones,” noting that relevant information may be available but not fully utilised. “Time is running out,” they stressed.
The delegation gave a press conference in Nicosia, after concluding its meetings during its visit to Cyprus, which began on April 5. A final report on the visit will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in September 2022.
Luciano Hazan said that they met, among others, with Cyprus government officials, the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), UN entities, Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, and several of his advisers, relatives of missing persons from both communities, as well as with human rights defenders, lawyers, academics and other civil society representatives.
He noted that “the main issue of this visit was the fact that 776 Greek Cypriots and 201 Turkish Cypriots out of the number 2002 persons on the official list administered by the CMP remain missing.”
He stressed the importance of the work of the CMP, noting that the Committee is an example of bicommunal good practice and that they had the chance to see the work done on the field, during excavations.
“Over 50% of the 2002 persons that are on the list of the CMP have been exhumed and identified and the Working Group hopes that the support provided to the CMP by the leaders of both communities, by the UN, and the international donor community will continue, with the aim of establishing the fate and whereabouts of the remaining 977 missing persons as soon as possible,” he added.
The Working Group emphasised that “it is essential to depoliticise the issue of missing persons in Cyprus and genuinely treat it as a human rights and humanitarian issue,” adding that more effective results can only be achieved through “an unconditional commitment among all concerned stakeholders to fully cooperate towards its solution and to give the rights of victims and their relatives top priority.”
“It is essential to put mistrust and resentment behind to finally put an end to the anguish and pain of all families. The initiatives and activities, notably those bicommunal, which are aimed at reconciliation and social cohesion should be fully supported,” they added.
“We received information during the meetings we have had that political or other considerations within the community seem to play an important role on the decision to proceed in an investigation on a particular site,” Hazan said.
He noted that this is a matter of concern for the Working Group “because we understand that it affected and is still affecting the search process.”
“We also learned that essential information related to graves, potential mass graves, would be withheld from the different sides due to mistrust and political calculations and we are also concerned about the practice during funerals after the identification where politically charged and divisive speeches are, in our view, deepening the mistrust,” he noted.
He went on to say that “what we want to emphasize is that it is essential for both sides to de-politicize the process on the search of the missing persons and to genuinely treat this as a humanitarian and human rights issue.”
Referring to their meetings with family members of missing persons, he said that they received an expression of frustration from them about the slowness and the delay in the process “that we really think it should be addressed.”
“We had the chance to receive information on some difficulties in the search process and we have learned that the search process for those who are still missing has slowed down in the recent years,” he noted, adding that many relatives are passing away without knowing what happened to their loved ones.
He also said that “an important element is the lack of access to information to relevant archives of countries and organizations that maintained military, police or humanitarian presence on the island during the events. It is really important this information to be provided to the CMP,” he said, adding that the Committee already has access to some archives.
Hazan noted that “while we are welcoming the CMP increased access to military areas in the north of the island, we reiterate the call on Turkish military authorities to make the sites in the northern part of the island accessible to the CMP at all times, as well as to allow full and unimpeded access to archives with a view to identifying new burial sites.”
The experts also noted some recent discussions in Cyprus, especially within the civil society, on the establishment of a truth-telling mechanism, which could clarify the facts and circumstances of the disappearances.
“Virtually all stakeholders we have met have underlined the importance to establish the truth for the victims, the relatives and the society as a whole” the Working Group said, recommending all stakeholders to give due consideration to this idea, which could also be conducive to reconciliation.”
The experts also noted that “no progress has been made in relation to criminal investigations and prosecutions for human rights violations resulting in individuals going missing, including possible enforced disappearances. While this is another essential pillar that needs to be addressed, together with truth, reparation and memory, there is very little emphasis in Cyprus on accountability.”
In relation to prevention of enforced disappearances, the Working Group expressed concern at information received on pushbacks both at sea and at the Green Line. While noting the challenges posed by an increased number of arrivals on the island, they recalled that “international law clearly prohibits the return of any person where there are substantial grounds to believe that they would be in danger of enforced disappearance.”
The experts further called for the creation of an adequate legal framework as a measure of prevention of enforced disappearances.
“Some of these measures can be taken swiftly, including the ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the introduction of an autonomous crime of enforced disappearance in the penal code,” they noted.
Source: Cyprus News Agency