Strasbourg, June
8 (CNA) --- The European Parliament adopted
today in Strasbourg a Written Declaration fully
endorsing the work of the Committee on Missing Persons
(CMP) in Cyprus.
The Declaration, which was an initiative by MEPs Marina
Yiannakoudakis (ECR, UK), Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg
Lidia (S&D, Poland), Francoise Grossetete (EPP,
France), Charles Tannock (ECR, UK) and Cecilia Wikstrom
(ALDE, Sweden), was signed by 386 MEPs and will be
announced tomorrow during the last day of the
Parliament's June Plenary in Strasbourg. The EP fully
endorses the work of the CMP and recognises its
post-conflict role in promoting truth, remembrance and
reconciliation in Cyprus. At the same time the European
Parliament calls on the European Commission to continue
to allocate sufficient resources to the CMP to enable
it to fulfill its important mandate and calls on the
governments of Turkey and Cyprus to continue to support
the CMP's work, to redouble efforts to account for
those individuals still listed as missing and to ensure
that all information that could facilitate the mission
of the CMP is made freely available to it. ''It is
crucial that we continue to support the Committee on
Missing Persons which has done so much excellent work
to find out what has happened to missing persons in
Cyprus'' Cypriot origin British MEP Marina
Yiannakoudakis stated to CNA, indicating that as many
relatives and friends of these missing people are now
reaching later stages of life, ''we must act with
urgency to provide them with answers to decade old
tantalizing questions''. The British MEP expressed her
gratitude to all the MEPs who backed this Declaration
and indicated that the initiative itself is ''a good
example of how the EU can actually help achieve
tangible benefits for its citizens, not least for
approximately 40.000 of Greek and Turkish Cypriots''.
The Declaration, together with the names of the
signatories, will be forwarded by EP President Jerzy
Buzek, to the Council, the Commission, the Parliaments
of the Member States and the Committee on Missing
Persons in Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided since 1974,
when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. As
a result of the invasion, 1619 Greek-Cypriots were
listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists,
who were captured in the battlefield.
Among them, however, were many civilians, women and
children, arrested by the Turkish invasion troops and
Turkish-Cypriot paramilitary groups, within the area
controlled by the Turkish army after the end of
hostilities and far away from the battlefield. Many of
those missing were last seen alive in the hands of the
Turkish military. A further 41 more cases of Greek
Cypriot missing persons have been recently added. These
cases concern the period between 1963-1964, when
inter-communal fighting broke out but none of them has
been identified yet. The number of Turkish Cypriot
missing since 1974 and 1963/64 stands at 503. According
to figures released, 270 families from both communities
have been notified about the discovery and
identification of the remains of their loved ones. By
early November 2010, a total of 263 remains, 209
belonging to Greek Cypriots and 54 to Turkish Cypriots
have been unearthed and identified since 2007. In his
latest report on the UN peace-keeping force in Cyprus,
the UN Secretary General reported that ''complete
access to military areas in the north for the purposes
of exhumations remains crucial. I urge the Turkish
Forces to adopt a more forthcoming approach, given the
humanitarian dimension of the issue''. CNA/EMA/MM/2011
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY 08/06/2011
Written declaration on the work of the
Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Rule 123 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. Whereas during the 1963-1964 intercommunal
fighting, and thereafter with
the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, around
2000 individuals from both the Greek and Turkish
Cypriot communities were reported as missing,
B. whereas the whereabouts and fate of many of these
individuals are still unknown,
C. whereas the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus
(CMP), which is supported financially by the United
Nations, the European Commission and other donors,
works to establish the fate of those reported missing,
1. Fully endorses the work of the CMP and recognises
its post-conflict role in promoting truth, remembrance
and reconciliation in Cyprus;
2. Calls on the European Commission to continue to
allocate sufficient resources to the CMP to enable it
to fulfil its important mandate;
3. Calls on the Governments of Turkey and Cyprus to
continue to support the CMP's work, to redouble efforts
to account for those individuals still listed as
missing and to ensure that all information that could
facilitate the mission of the CMP is made freely
available to it;
4. Instructs its President to forward this declaration,
together with the names of the signatories, to the
Council, the Commission, the parliaments of the Member
States and the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus.
SEE LATEST NEWS
regarding case
against Turkey at European Court of Human Rights in
November 2008
The European
Commission of Human Rights has examined the
issue of the missing persons of the Turkish invasion
and found (in 1976, 1983 and 1999) that Turkey
violated fundamental articles of the European
Convention on Human Rights. On 8 September 1999, the
European Commission established that article 2 of
the Convention, referring to the right to life, was
violated. It had also concluded, unanimously, that
there has been a continuing violation of the right
to liberty and security because Turkey did not carry
out an effective investigation into the fate of
missing Greek Cypriot persons. The Commission
further concluded unanimously that Turkey had
violated the human rights of the relatives of the
missing persons.
On 10 May 2001, the European Court of
Human Rights ruled that Turkey had violated the
right to life and the right to personal freedom of the
missing persons. Turkey was found guilty of
persistently denying an adequate investigation into the
fate of missing persons, in respect of whom there was
an arguable claim that they were in Turkish custody at
the time of their disappearance. Ankara was also found
guilty of violating the rights of the relatives of
missing persons because of her failure to inform them
about the fate of their loved ones.
The United Nations has
adopted six resolutions for the missing persons of
Cyprus, asking for the early resolution of this
problem. It has also set up the Missing Persons
Committee (CMP) to investigate the fate of missing
persons.
Global Support to the work of the CMP The countries
which have so far contributed funds for the work of the
CMP: Cyprus (including Turkish Cypriots), Australia,
Ireland, Greece, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Turkey,
Spain, Germany, US. European Commission is so far the
biggest contributor with 1.5m euros in 2008 and a
commitment for a further 2 million euros in
2009.
In October 1994, the US Senate unanimously adopted an
Act for the ascertainment of the fate of five US
citizens missing since the Turkish invasion. In the
investigation that followed the remains of one US
citizen’s were discovered in January 1998 in the
occupied part of Cyprus. His remains were sent to the
US for DNA testing, identification and the return of
his body to his family for burial. The other four
US-citizens are still missing.
Proposal by Amnesty
International (AI) concerning the Cypriot Missing
Persons
In August 1996, Amnesty International
submitted to the United Nations a proposal to establish
an effective commission of inquiry to investigate
disappearances, missing persons, and deliberate and
arbitrary killings in Cyprus. Furthermore, AI
recommended that the parties participating in this
commission should ensure that those responsible for
these crimes are brought to justice, and that the
victims or relatives are fairly and adequately
compensated.