COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION STARTS CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF CYPRUS

CERD
59th session
2 August 2001
Afternoon



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started its consideration of a sixteenth periodic report of Cyprus by hearing a Government delegation say that part of the island was still in the hands of a foreign power which prevented it from applying the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on all its territory.

Introducing his country's report, Alecos Markides, Attorney-General of Cyprus, said that the Government of Cyprus regretted that it was still prevented, by the use force, from applying the provisions of the Convention in the area of the Republic which had been under illegal military occupation by Turkey since July 1974.

The situation in Cyprus had improved, but there was still room for further advances, Mr. Markides said, adding that there were allegations against the police of mistreating detainees - Greek-Cypriots, Turkish-Cypriots and others. Any such incidents were definitely deplorable, however isolated they might be, he said.

Patrick Thornberry, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Cyprus, said that the statement on the unchanging nature of the Constitution was disturbing, even bearing in mind that the Constitution was the outcome of the Zurich/London agreements of 1959 to which the people of Cyprus were not a party. The Constitution of 1960 was in place before many key human rights instruments, including the Convention. From the point of view of international human rights law, inability to change a Constitution would not be an excuse for a violation of an international principle, he said.

Mr. Thornberry further said that Cyprus had enacted a number of criminal law provisions in the field of racial discrimination, and had amended them following the Committee's recommendations. However, there was little evidence that these criminal provisions were being used.

Other Committee members also commented on the contents of the report, raising questions on such issues as the status of foreign domestic workers; problems of trafficking in women from Asian countries; the demographic composition of the occupied part of Cyprus; the role and participation of civil society in the preparation of the report; police brutality against asylum-seekers and the outcome of an inquiry against recent incidents; the impact of the presence of a foreign army on the racial problem; and the law on marriage allowing mixed marriages, which had not been the case before.

Also contributing to the debate were Committee members Marc Boussuyt, Regis de Gouttes, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Gay McDougall, Ion Diaconu, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Yuri A. Reshetov and Francois Lonseny Fall.

The Cypriot delegation was also made up of George Stavrinakis, Law Commissioner; Eliana Nicolaou, Ombudsperson; Aristos Tsiartas, Office of the Ombudsperson; Eleni Loizidou, Office of the Attorney-General; Alexandros Vikis, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Frances-Galatia Williams, Counsellor, Deputy Permanent Representative; and Helena Mina, Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Cyprus.

Cyprus is among the 157 States parties to the Convention and as such it must submit periodic reports on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Friday, 3 August, it will continue its consideration of the report of Cyprus.

Summary of Report of Cyprus

The sixteenth periodic report, contained in document CERD/C/384/Add.4, reviews the administrative, legislative and judicial measures taken by Cyprus designed to implement the provisions of the Convention. It says that the country is still coping with the effect of the Turkish invasion of 1974, which has caused the de facto separation of its people; Cyprus was one of the first States that had ratified the Convention; however, due the policy of the occupying power, the Government is prevented from implementing its provisions in the entire country.

The report notes that the establishment and operation of the National Institution for the Protection of Human Rights in 1998 contributes to the dissemination of information with regard to the Convention and all conventions dealing with human rights. It also notes that since the Turkish invasion of 1974 and the forced expulsion of almost all Greek-Cypriots living in the occupied area of Cyprus, the possibilities of economic interaction between the two major communities have been practically non-existent. The Turkish occupation forces pursue a conscious and systematic policy of keeping the two communities apart.

The report says that the institution of the Commissioner for Administration, the Ombudsman, was introduced in January 1991 as an additional safeguard against possible violations of human rights. The Commissioner has the jurisdiction to examine complaints relating to administrative authorities including the police, the armed forces, public corporations and the local authorities.


The Constitution of Cyprus is a Constitution where the basic articles cannot be amended, the report says. The Constitution is based on a system of quota participation of the two major Cypriot communities in all areas of public life. Seats in parliament are allocated by the Constitution on a 70 per cent to 30 per cent basis between the Greek-Cypriots and the Turkish-Cypriot communities. According to the Constitution, a number of the smaller Cypriot communities, in order to participate actively in the political life of the country and enjoy their political rights freely, exercised their right to choose which of the major communities they wished to belong to. In addition, members of the smaller communities elected their own representative to represent them in the House of Representatives. The system does not give rise to tensions between political parties and the smaller communities since they do not contest for the same seats in parliament.

In a supplementary report submitted to the Committee, it was said that the draft law against the exploitation of women and children had been enacted into law in 2000; however, in its final form the provision relating to female circumcision had been omitted.

Presentation of Report

ALECOS MARKIDES, Attorney-General of Cyprus, said that the Government of Cyprus regretted that it was still prevented, by the use force, from applying the provisions of the Convention in the area of the Republic which continued to be under illegal military occupation by Turkey. Cyprus was invaded by Turkey in July 1974 and, since then, a large part of its territory continued to be occupied.

Mr. Markides recalled that the European Court of Human Rights, on 10 May 2001, had established its decision that Turkey had been continuously violating the right to property of all Greek Cypriot displaced persons who had property in the occupied part of Cyprus. It had also found that Turkey was violating the right to a home of those persons because of its refusal to allow them to exercise their right to return to their homes and properties.

The situation in Cyprus had improved, but there was still room for further advances, Mr. Markides continued to say. For example, there were allegations against the police mistreating detainees - Greek-Cypriots, Turkish-Cypriots and others. Any such incidents were definitely deplorable, however isolated they might be, he said.

Mr. Markides said that the Council of Ministers recently had reached a decision to extend the power of the Attorney-General to appoint criminal investigations concerning police behaviour. Since April 2000, it was no longer a prerequisite that a written complaint be addressed to him by the alleged victim. The Attorney could intervene upon receiving information through the press or otherwise.

Consideration of Report

PATRICK THORNBERRY, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Cyprus, welcomed the setting up of the National Institution for the Protection of Human Rights and asked if consultations had taken place with groups such as Armenians and Latins or their representatives. He also welcomed the appointment of the Presidential Commissioner for Minorities and said he would be grateful to receive information on the work of the Commissioner in future reports.

The report estimated that some 109,000 Turkish settlers had arrived on the island from the Turkish mainland, Mr. Thornberry said. The figure for settlers thus outnumbered the "indigenous" Turkish Cypriots. If that was the case, there had clearly been a massive demographic transformation since 1974, on account of expulsions, emigration of Turkish-Cypriots, and massive influx of settlers. In the case of the settlers, perhaps the Government could shed some light on the reasons for such an influx: was that a kind of natural transfer to what many Turks would regard as essentially "their" territory, or had there been, inducements? What was the estimated figure of Turkish military presence in Cyprus?

Mr. Thornberry said that the Cyprus versus Turkey case in the European Court of Human Rights had presented evidence of poor treatment of Roma in the area outside government control, and some points were taken up in the judgement of the Court. The Government of Cyprus was invited to comment on the situation and provide information on the Roma people in the north.

He said that for the government-controlled area, the report had made a number of references to Turkish-Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latins. They were also referred to as relevant religious groups or communities without distinguishing between them with regard to education and religious instructions. The report did not clearly say what was the Maronite language -- in fact it was a dialect of Arabic, the Kormakiti dialect. The Maronites and Armenians were regarded as "national minorities" in the report of Cyprus under the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe. That might signify they were more than a religious group, though some ethnic groups might also have an integrated religious identity. Who were the Latins? Were they Roman Catholics? The detail suggested only that some Latins might speak Italian.

Mr. Thornberry said that very little was mentioned about migrant workers. He wondered if the concept of minority in Cyprus was confined to the traditional groups plus Roma, or did it include new immigrants? Did the remit of the Commissioner for Minorities extend to the newer groups?

The statement on the unchanging nature of the Constitution was disturbing, even bearing in mind that the Constitution was the outcome of the Zurich/London agreements of 1959 to which the people of Cyprus were not a party, Mr. Thornberry said. If the Constitution became, as it were, out of date in human rights terms, what would happen? The Constitution of 1960 was in place before many key human rights instruments, including the Convention. From the point of view of international human rights law, inability to change a Constitution would not be an excuse for a violation of an international principle.

Mr. Thornberry said that Cyprus had enacted a number of criminal law provisions in the field of racial discrimination, and had amended them following the Committee's recommendations. However, there was little evidence that the criminal provisions were being used.

Mr. Thornberry asked if it was true that religious groups were obliged to cast a vote in parliamentary elections for their "additional" representatives. He said that he understood that the general legal obligation to cast a vote was extended to the election of the special minority representatives. What were the powers and duties in Parliament of the special representatives of the minority groups? Had the minorities in that case full right to participation in the conduct of the public affairs at any level as required by article 5(c) of the Convention? Or was that right deemed to be satisfied by current voting rights along with the broader electorate?


Mr. Thornberry said that a very positive development had been observed in the field of education relating to subsidizing the education of minority groups and establishing an elementary school for the Maronites. Was there any representation under present conditions of Turkish-Cypriots in the public administration? On participation, was it possible to have elections to fill the vacant government posts designed for the Turkish community?

In his conclusion, Mr. Thornberry said that it was impossible to ignore the trauma of the Turkish intervention in 1974 and its appalling consequences for human rights. Thus the construction of a progressive anti-discrimination strategy was currently an impossible strategy for the island as whole. "What we are left with is in essence the residue of a Constitution, with only part of the structure working," he said. In terms of the infrastructure to dealt with racism and intolerance, the field of action was dictated by the political facts, he added.

Other Committee members also commented on the contents of the report, raising questions on such issues as the status of foreign domestic workers; problems of trafficking in women from Asian countries; the demographic composition of the occupied part of Cyprus; the role and participation of the civil society in the preparation of the report; police brutality against asylum-seekers and the outcome of an inquiry against recent incidents; the impact of the presences of a foreign army on the racial problem; and the law on marriage allowing mixed marriage, which was not the case before.



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