MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Notes on the Agenda

CM/Notes/1459/H46-25

9 March 2023

1459th meeting, 7-9 March 2023 (DH) Human rights   H46-25 Cyprus v. Turkey (Application No. 25781/94) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments Reference documents DH-DD(2023)11, DH-DD(2023)169, CM/Del/Dec(2022)1428/H46-34

 

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 Türkiye in July and August 1974. In accordance with the Committee’s previous decisions, at the present meeting it will examine the issue of Greek Cypriot missing persons and their families, and the just satisfaction awarded in the judgment of 12 May 2014.[1]

It is recalled that, on this issue, the Court in the Cyprus v. Turkey judgment found that the failure of the authorities of the respondent State to conduct an effective investigation into the whereabouts and fate of Greek-Cypriot missing persons who disappeared in life-threatening circumstances constituted a continuing violation of the right to life (violation of Article 2). The Court further found that the absence of such investigations concerning Greek-Cypriot missing persons in respect of whom there was an arguable claim that they were in Turkish custody at the time of their disappearance constituted a continuing violation of the right to liberty and security (Article 5). Finally, it found a continuing violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) in that the silence of the Turkish authorities in the face of the real concerns of the relatives attained a level of severity which could only be categorised as inhuman treatment.

In the judgment on the just satisfaction in this case, the Grand Chamber held that Türkiye 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 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 the payment or within any other period considered appropriate by the Committee of Ministers.

Status of execution

A. Just satisfaction awarded by the Court in its judgment of 12 May 2014

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 in the judgment on just satisfaction of 12 May 2014.

At its 1411^th meeting (September 2021) (DH), the Committee adopted Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2021)201 strongly urging the Turkish authorities to abide by their unconditional obligation and pay the just satisfaction awarded by the Court in this case, together with the default interest accrued, without further delay.

So far, no payment has been made and no indication that payment will be made has been given.

B. Measures to determine the fate of Greek Cypriot missing persons and inform their families

a)    Measures taken

-       Search for the missing persons - work of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP)

The Turkish authorities refer to the work of the CMP, which is a bicommunal body, operating under the auspices of the UN. At the time the Cyprus v. Turkey judgment was delivered in 2001, the CMP’s role was limited to establishing a list of missing persons from both communities and collecting DNA samples from the relatives for future identification. The CMP was reactivated in 2004 as a result of the Court’s judgment and the execution process and entrusted with the search for missing persons from both communities in Cyprus. The Turkish authorities indicate that they assist the CMP 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 December 2022 it had found the remains of 1,195 persons and identified 1,028[2] persons belonging to both communities (out of 2,002 missing persons from both communities). Amongst the identified persons, 736 were Greek Cypriots (out of 1,510 missing Greek Cypriots). The individual remains exhumed per year were 80 in 2016, 26 in 2017, 10 in 2018, 26 in 2019, 4 in 2020, 18 in 2021 and 19 in 2022. The percentage of excavated burial sites containing remains was 17% in 2016, 19% in 2017 and 2018, 17% in 2019, 11% in 2020, 8% in 2021 and 16% in 2022.

As regards access to military areas, during the course of the execution process, the Committee of Ministers has insisted on the necessity for the Turkish authorities to adopt a proactive approach to providing the CMP with all the assistance it needs to continue to achieve tangible results as quickly as possible, including access to areas where burial sites might be located, including military areas (see for example the decisions adopted in June 2015). In November 2015, the Turkish authorities gave access to the CMP to all 30 sites in military areas in the north of Cyprus known at the time to possibly contain remains of missing persons. The Committee noted with satisfaction this development in March 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 CMP’s requests for access to 30 additional sites in military areas in the northern part of Cyprus which could contain burial sites have been granted.

As regards access to information, the Turkish authorities submitted that in 1998 they provided the CMP with all the information at their disposal about possible burial sites in accordance with the 1997 Agreement. In 2016 the CMP asked the authorities of all countries present in Cyprus in 1963-64 and 1974, when the disappearances took place, to provide it with information from their relevant archives. It established an archive research team to this end which reviewed the documents of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and had exchanges with some of the countries concerned. To respond to the CMP’s request, an archive committee was set up in the northern part of Cyprus in August 2016 with a mandate to examine the relevant archives for information requested by the CMP on the burial sites and the location of remains.

According to the information submitted in May 2018, in response to a request from the CMP, the archive committee provided to the Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP aerial photos from 1974, information on repair works conducted in a building located in the military area, 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. New members were appointed to the archive committee in November 2019.

-       Criminal investigations – work of the Missing Persons Unit (MPU)

Due to the CMP’s specific mandate which is limited to the search for the remains of missing persons and their identification, the Committee insisted on the need for Türkiye to take additional measures to carry out the effective investigations required by the Court’s judgment (see Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2005)44 and subsequent decisions of the CM, for example, those adopted in March 2010). As a result of the Committee’s examination, the Turkish authorities set up the MPU, which is a unit of the police force under the supervision of the Attorney General’s Office, in 2010 to carry out such investigations in the cases concerning persons whose remains have been identified by the CMP.

According to the Turkish authorities, of 442 relatives of Greek Cypriot missing persons contacted by the MPU, only 15 responded to its invitation to give written statements. The MPU has followed leads and received statements from witnesses, it also conducted excavations in the cases where this was possible. The unit contacted numerous authorities, some through diplomatic channels, to pursue leads in the criminal investigations with a view to establishing the circumstances of death and identifying the perpetrators.

Once the investigation is completed, the file is transferred to the Attorney General’s Office, which presents its conclusions in a final report, which is shared with any known relatives. The Turkish authorities provided the Committee with summaries of the final reports in four cases, including those concerning Savvas Hadjipantelli, Andreas Varnava and Savvas Apostolides (three of the missing persons in the Varnava case). The reports present in detail the steps undertaken by the investigators and the conclusion of the Attorney General. As regards these four cases, the Attorney General found 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 European Court has examined similar investigations conducted in Cyprus and considered them as being in conformity with the Convention (see the inadmissibility decision Gürtekin and Others of 10 March 2014).

For the last update on the progress of the investigations, see the summary of Türkiye’s latest submission below.

According to the information provided in November 2019, the MPU was allocated 250,000 Euros in the budget of 2018 to cover the salaries of 11 investigators and other staff (an increase of 35,000 Euros compared to the budget of 2017).

-       Individual measures in the Varnava v. Turkey case

Three of the missing persons in this case have been identified by the CMP (Savvas Hadjipanteli, Andreas Varnava and Savvas Apostolides) and the MPU conducted investigations as indicated above. The remaining six missing persons in the Varnava case have not been found.

b)    Last examination by the Committee – March 2022

Recalling the important humanitarian issues which arise in respect of the missing persons, the Committee underlined once again that it remains urgent for the Turkish authorities to maintain and advance their proactive approach to providing the CMP with all necessary assistance so that it can continue to achieve tangible results as quickly as possible.

In this respect, the Committee encouraged the Turkish authorities to continue to ensure that the CMP has access to all areas which could contain the remains of missing persons, in particular unhindered access to military areas. It stressed further that, due to increasing difficulties caused by the passage of time, the CMP urgently needs documentary evidence and other accurate information to allow it to continue identifying possible burial sites and urgent the Turkish authorities to search their relevant archives, including military archives, and provide the CMP with information relating to burial sites and any other places where remains might be found.

The Committee noted the recent information provided by the Turkish authorities on the progress of the investigations conducted by the MPU. It reiterated its call on them to ensure the effectiveness and rapid finalisation of the MPU’s investigations, and invited them to continue to transmit to the Committee information on the progress of the investigations and their outcome, including on any additional investigation which might have started regarding the remaining six missing persons in the Varnava case.

c)    Latest submissions of the respondent and applicant States

-       Türkiye

The Turkish authorities request the Committee to close the “substantive aspects” of the Cyprus v. Turkey judgment concerning the issue of missing persons and Varnava v. Turkey, since Türkiye is providing all necessary assistance to the CMP and the MPU is conducting effective investigations under the supervision of the Attorney General’s Office.

In their memorandum submitted on 2 January 2023 (DH-DD(2023)11), they set out the context of the execution of this part of the Cyprus v. Turkey judgment since the reactivation of the CMP in 2004 and provide updated information in respect of the main areas followed by the Committee, as well as replies to the issues raised during the execution process.

They also explain that while the percentage of excavation sites containing human remains is on the rise (there was a two-fold increase in 2022 compared to 2021), the number of identifications remains low, and that there are scientific explanations for this. The human remains have been subject to a wide range of environmental conditions over the roughly 50 or 60 years since death, and many samples are therefore degraded and contain only small traces of DNA, meaning that identification is an increasingly difficult process. They underlined, however, that “the Turkish side is committed to continue its assistance to ensure the CMP delivers effective results”.

As regards the CMP’s access to suspected burial sites, they submit that the CMP has so far carried out a total of 1,231 exhumations in the northern part of Cyprus – 1,147 in civilian areas and 84 in military areas.

They consider that permissions granted regularly, for over a decade, by the military authorities confirm their unwavering commitment to assist the CMP. In 2019, permission was granted to the CMP to access 30 military areas, 16 of which have been excavated, subject to the measures which prevailed during the Covid-19 pandemic, and permission remains valid until the work is completed. The timing of excavations in military areas is coordinated between the CMP and the military authorities to avoid interruptions to either the work of the CMP or the military. There are applicable rules and regulations in respect of military areas that need to be respected and the safety of those present must be safeguarded at all times. In reply to an issue raised by the Cypriot authorities, they refer to measures taken in Derinya and in Kizilbas/Trahonas between 2016-2019 to enable the attendance of the CMP’s staff and witnesses, as well as to recent examples in 2022 of access to military areas granted to Greek Cypriot witnesses and the Greek Cypriot member of the CMP and his staff. The Turkish authorities indicate that there was no interruption of the excavations at the Dikmen/Dikomo waste site.

As regards access to civilian areas, the Turkish authorities claim that excavations took place in all the areas in which the Cypriot authorities claimed that access was blocked because of lack of consent by the owner, including Lapta/Lapitos. In order to obtain the consent of private owners, the CMP has created a procedure for the payment of compensation, which is calculated on the advice of a civil engineer engaged by the Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP. Excavations are planned in cooperation with the owners to minimise disruption.

Concerning access of the CMP to information, the Turkish authorities reiterated that in 1998 they provided all the information at their disposal (in the northern part of Cyprus and Türkiye) about possible burial sites, in accordance with the 1997 Agreement. In 1974, bodies were buried hurriedly, due to the summer heat, without removing tags or respecting procedures, and no written records were kept.[3] The information shared in 1998 was mainly the testimony of persons responsible for clearing the battlefields, and led to the location of four burial sites, and the identification of the remains of 95 Greek Cypriot missing persons. Regarding the issue of prisoners of war last seen in Türkiye, they refer to a statement of the ICRC indicating that the prisoners were repatriated to Cyprus in October 1974 and that no case of death or disappearance from the prisoner camps in Türkiye had been reported to the ICRC.

According to the UN member of the CMP, Mr Arni, during his intervention before the Committee of Ministers in 2013, military archives do not generally reveal useful information about burial sites, because the military do not keep records in the same way as police forces and because most armed forces are reluctant to search in their archives at the request of a civilian organisation. Nonetheless, the Archive Committee was set up in 2016 in the northern part of Cyprus to examine the relevant archives for information requested by the CMP It can request information from relevant archives in Türkiye through diplomatic channels. The Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP has access to aerial photographs of 166 different locations and the military authorities supplied to the CMP advanced computer and geographic information system facilities to facilitate their examination.

The Turkish authorities further indicated that since 1998 they have continued to provide to the CMP any new relevant information about possible burial sites and places of possible relocation of remains. They also inform the CMP when unidentified remains are found, most recently in January 2019. The primary source of information for the CMP has been witnesses. The names of informants are kept confidential by the CMP, and this is accommodated by the Attorney-General’s Offices on both sides to support the CMP further.

As regards the relocation of remains, the Turkish authorities accept that intentional relocations took place, both in 1974 and subsequently in the 1990s, according to the intervention of the UN member of the CMP before the Committee of Ministers in 2013. There is no information on the possible new locations at their disposal. They cannot protect possible burial sites as their location is kept confidential by the CMP, but the police and the municipalities are ready to act if such protection is requested by the CMP.

Concerning the criminal investigations, as of December 2022 the MPU has opened 725 investigations and finalised 515 (57 since March 2022). The Attorney General’s Office concluded the examination of 465 files, including 127 since the last examination of the Committee in March 2022. They indicate that the MPU has published calls for information in the local newspaper and local TV. It has carried out site inspections, conducted excavations in 58 places, taken 662 written statements and made inquiries with official bodies and organisations, including the Turkish military. The fact that the investigations have not led to any prosecution does not mean they are ineffective (see the inadmissibility decision in Gürtekin and Others v. Turkey of 10 March 2014). The budget of the MPU was further increased from 2,795,315 Turkish Lira to 4,217,098 Turkish Lira.

-       Cyprus

In their submission of 6 February 2023, the Cypriot authorities submit that the Committee should decline the request of the Turkish authorities for the closure of the substantive aspects of these cases. They underline the importance of the payment of the just satisfaction awarded by the Court in 2009 in the Varnava case and 2014 in Cyprus v. Turkey, which remains unpaid.

As regards the CMP’s access to military areas, they consider that the progress achieved is due to the Committee’s supervision and indicate that the CMP and its staff do not have immediate and unhindered access to military areas. The military authorities must be given notice one week in advance of the CMP’s intention to excavate and the identity of the persons who will participate, and the grounds on which access can be denied or excavations disrupted are unclear. Excavations have repeatedly been interrupted by the Turkish military, for example in the Dikomo area, and the close monitoring of these areas constitutes a hindrance to the CMP’s work. There have been refusals to allow witnesses and informants to access certain areas, or restrictions on their movements, as well as restrictions on the area to be excavated or the time to complete the excavations, including in 2022.

As regards access to civilian areas, the Cypriot authorities refer to locations where they state the CMP was denied access (Mia Milia, Exo Metchi and Lapithos) and to the lack of a mechanism to ensure unhindered access to civilian areas.

As regards access to information, the Cypriot authorities indicate that written records and the testimonies of military personnel could potentially lead to the recovery of the remains of missing persons. They reiterate that information on burial sites containing bodies collected from the battlefields continues to be withheld and that the Greek Cypriot member of the CMP has not been provided with access to the aerial photos taken in 1974.

The Cypriot authorities submit that the intentional disturbance of burial sites and exhumation of human remains continues to be a significant hindrance to the work of the CMP. According to the information available to them, it appears that relocation of remains occurred in a number of sites, in some cases using heavy machinery, in an organised and systematic way for the purpose of concealing evidence of crime. Examples include the relocation of the remains of at least 70 individuals from Askeia to a waste site in Dikomo, and the relocation of remains in the Bogazi military area, Kornokipos, Lapatsa Hill, Strongilos and saint Hilarion, among other places. They underline that there is no mechanism to protect burial sites and indicate that the Greek Cypriot member of the CMP received no response to his request to the Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP for protection of a possible burial site of two Greek Cypriot soldiers in Famagusta.

According to the Cypriot authorities, the criminal investigations carried out by the MPU are ineffective as none of those which have been finalised so far have led to prosecution. They request further reports to be submitted to the Committee to allow it to assess the effectiveness of the investigations.

C. Latest NGO submission

In their submission of 6 February 2023 (DH-DD(2023)214), the NGO Organisation of Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners and Missing Persons in Cyprus submits that no steps have been taken by Türkiye to provide the CMP with information from its archives, including military archives, or to provide unhindered access to all areas, including in military zones. Another obstacle for the work of the CMP is the deliberate relocation of remains conducted in an organised and systemic manner.

The NGO point out that families often receive only residual bone fragment of their loved ones and insists on Türkiye’s obligation to provide information on the locations where transferred remains were deposited and to protect known or suspected burial sites. They further point out that the issues of the transfer of the remains of 70 inhabitants of the village of Ashia to the waste site in Dikomo remains unresolved, as no excavations have taken place in this area. The NGO finally indicates that the MPU “creates strong reservations among the relatives of missing persons regarding its role and actions” and that no new information has been given to any family of missing persons.

Analysis by the Secretariat

A. Payment of the just satisfaction awarded in the judgment of 12 May 2014

It must be underlined that the payment of the sums awarded by the Court to the families of the missing Greek Cypriots is a central measure for the execution of this part of the judgment.

In its 2014 just satisfaction judgment, the Court recalled its findings in the Varnava case that “the applicants [in that case] ha[d] endured decades of not knowing, which must have marked them profoundly”. It also recalled that “its non-pecuniary awards serve to give recognition to the fact that moral damage occurred as a result of a breach of a fundamental human right and reflect in the broadest of terms the severity of the damage.”[4] It thus awarded 30,000,000 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage suffered by the relatives of the missing persons, to be distributed to the individual victims of the violations of the Convention under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers.

The obligation to pay this just satisfaction is unconditional, as the Committee has emphasised in numerous decisions and Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2021)201, adopted in September 2021. Until the sums awarded are put at the disposal of the relatives of the missing persons, the Committee could not conclude that all the measures required have been taken by the respondent State, in order to end its supervision of the part of the Cyprus v. Turkey judgment concerning the missing persons. 

At the present meeting, the Committee might wish to deplore the absence of response to Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2021)201, and strongly urge the Turkish authorities to abide by their unconditional obligation and pay the just satisfaction, together with the default interest accrued, without further delay.

B. Measures to determine the fate of Greek Cypriot missing persons and inform their families (including in relation to the Varnava and Others case) 

 

In terms of individual and general measures, the respondent State has an obligation to carry out effective investigations into the whereabouts and fate of the missing persons. Since the search for missing persons in Cyprus is delegated by both communities to the CMP, the Committee has been supervising since 2006 the assistance provided by the Turkish authorities to the CMP in terms of access to relevant areas and provision of information, as well as the criminal investigations carried out by the Missing Persons Unit (MPU). 

-       Assistance to the CMP

With respect to the CMP’s possibility to access potential burial sites, the Committee has already noted the progress achieved, in particular the access given to 30 military areas in November 2015 and 30 more in June 2019.

In the light of the most recent information provided by the Turkish authorities, it appears that, generally, the CMP is able to access the areas in northern Cyprus it wishes to search. Although, as submitted in the communication from Cyprus, there might on occasion be some difficulties or delays in obtaining authorisation for all the required witnesses to enter military areas, it does not appear unreasonable that rules concerning advance notice and authorisation are in place.

As regards access to civilian areas, the information about the compensation scheme set up by the Turkish Member of the CMP and the large number of civilian sites accessed can be noted with satisfaction.

Having regard to the latest information provided by the Turkish authorities, the Committee is invited to consider whether or not further details are needed concerning access to burial sites.

As regards the provision of information to the CMP, the clarifications provided in the most recent Turkish communication are helpful. The Turkish authorities repeat that all information in the possession of the “Turkish side” regarding the burial sites of bodies cleared from the battlefields was transmitted to the “Greek Cypriot side” in 1998, and explain for the first time that this information included witness testimonies concerning the location of four sites where bodies cleared from the battlefields were buried, which led to the identification of 95 Greek Cypriot missing persons. They further clarify that no written records were made in 1974 of the location of burial sites and that burials were performed hastily without removing tags because of the summer heat, and that, as confirmed by the ICRC, all the Greek Cypriot prisoners of war taken to Türkiye were repatriated fairly rapidly.

The Committee could take note of the explanations provided by the Turkish authorities and invite them to continue to respond to requests for information by the CMP and, should any additional information come to light on places where remains of missing persons may be found, to ensure that it is provided to the CMP.    

Concerning the relocation of remains ad the protection of burial sites, the Turkish authorities indicate that such incidents took place on both sides until the 1990s and that they do not dispose of information on the locations where the remains have been transferred. They could nevertheless provide clarification as regards the situation in respect to the particular cases where such relocation was evidenced, referred to in the last memorandum of Cyprus. In addition, although the Turkish authorities indicate that they cannot protect known burial sites because their location is kept confidential, they could also respond to the issue raised by Cyprus concerning the request of the Greek Cypriot member of the CMP for the protection of such a site in Famagusta.

-       Criminal investigations by the MPU

The investigations carried out by the MPU and the Attorney General’s Office are progressing steadily, with the finalisation of respectively 57 and 127 cases since March 2022. In total, 515 cases have been finalised by the MPU and 465 by final report of the Attorney General’s Office since 2010 when the MPU was established (out of a total of 725 investigations initiated so far).

The summaries of four final reports drawn up by the Attorney General’s Office provided previously by the Turkish authorities show the type of investigative actions taken and the leads followed in the investigations. Although the conclusion in these cases was that there was not sufficient evidence collected to allow the prosecution of a suspect, this is not an indicator of the ineffectiveness of the investigations. The Court has examined similar investigations and held that the obligation of the authorities to carry out effective investigations is one of means, not result[5]. In its inadmissibility decision Charalambous and Others v. Turkey of 3 April 2012, concerning Greek Cypriot missing persons, the Court indicated that the authorities must take reasonable steps to find the available evidence and pursue the practical leads open to them at the time of the investigation to discover the perpetrators of any unlawful violence. The Court reaffirmed in the Varnava judgment that the obligation for effective investigations persists many years after the facts but also noted that “it may be that investigations would prove inconclusive, or insufficient evidence would be available.” Furthermore, in two inadmissibility decisions in cases against Cyprus, the Court examined investigations into cases of Turkish Cypriot missing persons, carried out by the Cypriot authorities, and found that the fact that the investigations have ended without any prosecutions was not grounds to conclude that they were ineffective. [6]

In addition, it should be noted that in the Charalambous decision, the Court has already rejected claims concerning the lack of independence of the investigators in the northern part of Cyprus. In this case, the Court rejected also claims that the relatives had not been informed about the investigations, the contact by the police had been intimidating, the inquiries - conducted pro forma, the investigations had not been made accessible to the families and had been lacking public scrutiny.[7]

In view of these elements and bearing in mind also the information about the budget at the disposal of the MPU, no further measure appears required in respect of this issue. Nevertheless, the Committee might wish to invite the Turkish authorities to continue to submit updated information on the progress of the investigations, while the issue of the payment of the just satisfaction remains open.

-       Individual measures in the Varnava case

The individual measures required in this case consist of providing all necessary assistance to the CMP to find and identify the missing persons concerned and of carrying out of effective investigations in the cases of the persons already identified. As regards the six persons who have not been found, the individual measures are closely linked to the general measures in the Cyprus v. Turkey case, more particularly those relating to the assistance to the CMP. As regards the three persons who have been identified by the CMP, the Committee was previously informed about the investigations launched in their respect and the final reports of the Attorney General’s Office. The summaries of the final reports have been transmitted to the Committee. As concerns the conclusions of the reports and the requirements of the effective investigations the observations regarding the general measures above are also valid here. The fact that no prosecution was initiated in these cases is not an indication of the ineffectiveness of the investigations carried out. 

In the light of these elements, and bearing in mind that the payment of the just satisfaction to the relatives of the missing persons in this case is also outstanding (see the Notes in the Varnava case), it is proposed to the Committee to note that no further individual measures are required as regards the persons already identified and invite the Turkish authorities to continue to keep it informed about any additional investigation which might have started regarding the remaining six missing persons in this case.

Conclusion

The Committee could acknowledge the significant progress that has been made as regards the measures taken to determine the fate of Greek Cypriot missing persons and inform their families since the delivery of the Cyprus v. Turkey judgment on the merits, in particular the assistance provided by the Turkish authorities to the CMP and the work carried out by the MPU. The Committee could also encourage the Turkish authorities to continue to assist the CMP and ensure the effectiveness of the investigations carried out by the MPU.

At the same time, the payment of the just satisfaction awarded in respect of the non-pecuniary damage suffered by the relatives of Greek Cypriot missing persons is still awaited, and for this reason the Committee cannot close its supervision over this part of the Cyprus v. Turkey judgment. The Committee should therefore urge the authorities to proceed with the payment without delay. They could be encouraged to seek the assistance of the Secretariat as regards the modalities of such payment. In addition, the Committee could request the Turkish authorities to provide clarification on the remaining questions set out above and, while the issue of the payment of the just satisfaction awarded in the Cyprus v. Turkey and the Varnava v. Turkey case remains open, to continue to provide the Committee with updated information on the work of the CMP and the MPU, and on any development, concerning the six persons in the Varnava case who are still missing. 

Finally, it is proposed that the Committee resumes its examination of the issue of the missing persons at its March 2024 Human Rights meeting.

Financing assured: YES