MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Notes on the Agenda

CM/Notes/1362/H46-30

5 December 2019

1362^nd meeting, 3-5 December 2019 (DH)

Human rights

H46-30 Cyprus v. Turkey (Application No. 25781/94)

Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments

Reference documents

DH-DD(2019)1310, DH-DD(2019)260; CM/Del/Dec(2019)1340/H46-23

Application

Case

Judgment of

Final on

Indicator for the classification

25781/94

CYPRUS v. TURKEY

10/05/2001

12/05/2014

Grand Chamber

Inter-State case

Case description

The case concerns 14 violations in relation to the situation in the northern part of Cyprus since the military intervention by Turkey in July and August 1974 concerning:

- Greek Cypriot missing persons and their relatives (violation of Articles 2, 3 and 5);

- homes and immovable property of displaced Greek Cypriots (violation of Article 8 and 13 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1);

- living conditions of Greek Cypriots in the Karpas region of the northern part of Cyprus (violation of Articles 3, 8, 9, 10 and 13 and Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No. 1);

- rights of Turkish Cypriots living in northern part of Cyprus (violation of Article 6).

In accordance with the Committee’s decision of March 2019 (DH meeting), the present examination is focussed on the violations relating to the missing persons and their relatives, namely:

- the failure of the Turkish authorities to conduct an effective investigation into the whereabouts and the fate of Greek Cypriot missing persons, who either disappeared in life-threatening circumstances or in respect of whom there was an arguable claim that they were in Turkish custody at the time of their disappearance (continuing violations of Articles 2 and 5); and

- the silence of the Turkish authorities in the face of the real concerns of the relatives which was categorised as inhuman treatment (continuing violation of Article 3).

In the Cyprus v. Turkey (just satisfaction) judgment, the Grand Chamber ruled that Turkey was to pay the Government of Cyprus 30,000,000 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage suffered by the relatives of missing persons and 60,000,000 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage (not concerning property rights) suffered by the enclaved Greek Cypriot residents of the Karpas peninsula. The Court indicated that these amounts should be distributed by the Government of Cyprus to the individual victims under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers within 18 months of the date of payment or within any other period considered appropriate by the Committee of Ministers.

Status of execution

- Greek Cypriot missing persons and their families

The Committee last examined this issue in March 2019. Recalling the important humanitarian issues which arise in the Cyprus v. Turkey case as regards the issue of missing persons, the Committee reiterated, inter alia, that, due to the passage of time, it is increasingly urgent for the Turkish authorities to provide the Committee of Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) with all necessary assistance for it to continue to achieve tangible results as quickly as possible. It called upon them to ensure that the CMP has unhindered access to all areas of interest, including military zones, located in the northern part of Cyprus and to provide the CMP proprio motuwith any information from the relevant archives, including military archives, in their possession on burial sites and places of relocation of remains.

It also reiterated its call on the Turkish authorities to ensure the effectiveness of the investigations conducted by the Missing Persons Unit (MPU) and their rapid finalisation. The Committee asked the Turkish authorities to continue to provide it with information on the progress of these investigations and on the conclusions of the final reports, in particular in the cases relating to Savvas Apostolides and Andreas Varnava. The Committee reiterated its request to the Turkish authorities to provide more details about the additional resources made available to the MPU.

The Turkish authorities provided information in response to the Committee’s decision, on 8 November 2019 (DH-DD(2019)1310).

As regards the persons who are still missing, the Turkish authorities make reference to the work of the CMP. They indicate that they assist the CMP in its search for missing persons by facilitating its exhumation activities, contributing financially to its work and submitting any new relevant information on possible burial sites.

According to the statistics published by the CMP, as of 31 October 2019 it had found the remains of 1,229 persons and identified 961 persons belonging to both communities (out of 2,002 missing persons from both communities). Amongst the identified persons, 695 were Greek Cypriots (out of 1,510 missing Greek Cypriots).

The individuals exhumed per year were 106 in 2016, 41 in 2017, 13 in 2018 and 26 in 2019 so far. The percentage of excavated burial sites containing remains was 17% in 2016, 19% in 2017 and 2018 and 20% in 2019 so far.

In November 2015, the Turkish authorities gave access to the CMP to all 30 sites in military areas in the north of Cyprus for which it was known at that time that they could contain remains of missing persons (the CMP’s working plan was to carry out exhumations in ten zones per year starting from 2016). In 2017, the Turkish authorities authorised the CMP to access an eleventh zone in addition to the ten already accessed that year.

In June 2019, the Turkish authorities gave access to the CMP to 30 additional sites in military areas in the northern part of Cyprus which could contain burial sites. According to the CMP’s press release, there is no time constraint attached to this decision, and the excavation planning will be decided by the CMP. According to the information submitted by the Turkish authorities, a total of 1,050 exhumations have been carried out by the CMP in the northern part of Cyprus – 992 in civilian areas and 58 in military areas.

According to the Turkish authorities, in 1997 they provided the CMP with all the information at their disposal about possible burial sites. An archive committee was set up in the northern part of Cyprus in August 2016 with a mandate to examine the relevant archives for the information requested by the CMP on the burial sites and the location of remains. According to the information submitted in May 2018, the archive committee continues to respond to specific requests from the CMP. It provided to the Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP aerial photos from 1974, as well as information on the exact location of the military areas in the northern part of Cyprus, to help the CMP to plan excavations for the following years.

As regards the Greek Cypriots whose bodies have been identified by the CMP, the MPU was set up in the northern part of Cyprus in 2010 to conduct investigations into the death of these persons. According to the information provided in November 2019(DH-DD(2019)1310), this unit has opened 685 criminal investigations on the basis of the files transmitted by the CMP. The unit finalised 439 files and transmitted them to the Attorney General for final assessment. The Attorney General completed his assessment and adopted a report in relation to 306 of these files.

Clarifications have been submitted as regards the content and conclusions of the final reports in relation to four of these investigations (two of which concern Savvas Hadjipantelli and Andreas Varnava, two of the missing persons in the Varnavacase). The Attorney General found, in the light of the results of the investigation in the four cases, that the available evidence was not sufficient to initiate a prosecution, and that until further evidence is available the investigations should be considered closed. If new information is found and brought to the attention of the police, it will be transmitted to the Attorney General’s office for examination. In these four cases, the MPU contacted the missing persons’ families to present them with the conclusions of the investigations and with the final reports. According to the Turkish authorities, the Court has examined similar investigations conducted in Cyprus and considered them as being in conformity with the Convention (see the inadmissibility decision Gürtekin and Othersof 10 March 2014).

According to the information provided in November 2019, the MPU has been reinforced financially and has been allocated 250,000 Euros in the budget of 2018 to cover the salaries of 11 investigators and other staff working at the MPU. This represented an increase of 35,000 Euros compared to the budget of 2017.

As regards the individual measures in the Varnava v. Turkeycase, one other missing person (apart from Savvas Hadjipanteli and Andreas Varnava, mentioned above) was identified by the CMP in 2017 (Savvas Apostolides) and investigations have been initiated in his case. According to the most recent information submitted by the Turkish authorities on 8 November 2019, the investigation in the Savvas Apostolides case is nearing completion(DH-DD(2019)1310).

- Just satisfaction awarded in the judgment of 12 May 2014

It is the Committee’s practice to examine the issue of the just satisfaction awarded in the Cyprus v. Turkey (just satisfaction) judgment at each of its meetings when it examines one aspect of the judgment on the merits. Thus, at each of its decisions since June 2015 the Committee has recalled that the obligation to pay the just satisfaction awarded by the Court is unconditional and called upon the Turkish authorities to pay the sums awarded by the Court.

Analysis by the Secretariat

- Greek Cypriot missing persons and their families (including the investigations related to the Varnava and Others case)

Since the search for the missing persons is entrusted to the bi-communal CMP operating under the auspices and with the participation of the UN, the Committee of Ministers has asked the Turkish authorities actively to assist the CMP by providing it with unhindered access to all relevant areas, inducing military areas, located in the northern part of Cyprus and by transmitting proprio motu any information from the relevant archives, including military archives, in their possession on burial sites and places of relocation of remains.

With respect to the access to relevant areas, the Committee might wish to note with interest the information about the CMP’s access to 30 additional suspected burial sites in military areas situated in the northern part of Cyprus. It appears that no time constraint is attached to this decision and that the excavation planning will be decided entirely by the CMP, which is positive. The Turkish authorities could be encouraged to continue to provide the CMP with access to all areas which could contain remains of missing persons.

As regards the proprio motu transmission of information to the CMP, apart from some aerial photos from 1974 transmitted to the Turkish member of the CMP, it does not appear that information relating to possible burial sites has so far been provided from the relevant Turkish archives, including military archives, despite the repeated calls of the Committee to the Turkish authorities to do so.

The access to accurate information appears to be a crucial part of determining the fate of missing persons in Cyprus at present, given the difficulties experienced by the CMP in locating further burial sites and the significant reduction of discoveries of human remains by it in recent years.

This matter is all the more urgent giving the humanitarian issues which arise in respect of the missing persons and the increasing difficulties caused by the passage of time. The Committee could therefore reiterate its call to the Turkish authorities to provide urgently the CMP with all information on possible location of remains at their disposal, including from military archives.

In this context, the Committee might consider inviting the three members of the CMP for an exchange of views on the current challenges and the reasons for the declining numbers of remains found and identified. It should be recalled that the Committee held an exchange of views with the members of the CMP in March 2009 and again in December 2013 and, as stated in the decision adopted at the latter meeting, the exchange brought important clarifications on different issues raised in the framework of the implementation of this judgment (for more details see the Records [insert link] on these exchanges of views). The new exchange of views could be held at the next meeting when the issue of the missing persons is examined.

As regards the persons already identified by the CMP, the Committee might wish to take note of the information submitted by the Turkish authorities on the progress of the investigations conducted by the Missing Persons Unit (MPU) and the conclusions of the final reports in the cases finalised so far, including the one relating to the case of Andreas Varnava (one of the missing persons in the Varnava case). The Committee might also wish to note the information on the additional resources made available to the MPU and invite the Turkish authorities to keep it informed on the progress of the investigations in particular as regards the investigations on the case relating to Savvas Apostolides (another missing person in the Varnava case).

- Payment of the just satisfaction awarded in the judgment of 12 May 2014

To date, no information has been submitted on the payment of the just satisfaction awarded in this case, despite the fact that in each of its decisions since June 2015 the Committee has recalled that the obligation to pay the just satisfaction awarded by the Court is unconditional and called upon the Turkish authorities to pay the sums awarded by the Court without further delay.

Financing assured: YES