UN Human Rights Treaties

E/CN.4/1275 COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Thirty-fourth session Agenda item 12 (a) QUESTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CYPRUS Report of the Secretary-General in pursuance of decision 6 (XXXIII) of the Commission on Human Rights 1. This report is submitted to the Commission on Human Rights in pursuance of its decision 6 (XXXIII) of 9 March 1977, by which the Commission decided, due to lack of time, to postpone the consideration of this item to its thirty-fourth session and to give it due priority at that session, and also requested the Secretary-General to provide the Commission with information relevant to the consideration of this question. The Commission has before it the report submitted by the Secretary-General at its thirty-third session (E/CN.4/1239 and Add.1, dated 1 and 25 February 1977). The present document contains information relevant to the consideration of this question, with special reference to developments since the circulation of the earlier report. Information provided in this connexion by the Governments of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey and by the Turkish Cypriot community is reproduced in annexes I to IV of the present report. 2. As requested by the Commission in paragraph 3 of its resolution 4 (XXXII) of 27 February 1976, the Secretary-General has continued and intensified "his efforts under General Assembly resolution 3450 (XXX) in respect of missing persons in Cyprus". In his contacts with all concerned, he and his special representative in Cyprus have endeavoured to clear the obstacles in the way of implementing the agreement reached at the Secretary-General's meeting of 12 February 1977 with His Beatitude Archbishop Makarios and His Excellency Mr. Denktash (E/CN.4/l239/Add.1). That agreement provided for the setting up of new investigatory machinery covering missing persons of both communities. 3. On 17 February 1977, the Turkish Cypriot side put forward its views as to the prerequisites and procedures for the setting up of a committee. These were immediately transmitted to President Makarios. The Greek Cypriot side found the Turkish Cypriot proposals and prerequisites totally unacceptable and in its turn expressed, towards the end of April, its position on the composition and terms of reference of such a committee, which it considered, should be established along the GE.78-2504 E/CN.4/l275 lines of a previous suggestion of the International Committee of the. Red Cross (ICRC) (see s/12222,para.10). Discussions on this subject were resumed in New York in November 1977. 4. On 14 December 1977, the General Assembly adopted resolution 32/128, the text of which is reproduced in annex V. 5. In January 1978, the Secretary-General undertook a visit to the area in the course of which he had occasion to discuss the question of missing persons with government leaders and high officials in Ankara, Nicosia and Athens. The acting special representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, Mr. Gorge, is pursuing discussions with the parties. 6. On 8 February 1978, the Cyprus Government issued a statement reiterating its support, for the establishment of an independent investigating committee to trace all missing persons, and insisting that the committee be vested with powers to ensure the effectiveness of its work. 7. Mr. Denktash sent a letter to the Secretary-General on 9 February 1978 reiterating that the Turkish Cypriot side is ready and willing to set up the investigatory body with the participation of the ICRC, as envisaged by the resolution of the Third Committee, immediately. The Secretary-General replied on 16 February 1978, thanking Mr. Denktash for this assurance and expressing the hope that, with the co-operation of the parties, it will be possible to reach agreement on the terms of reference for that body. 8. The Secretary-General hopes that full agreement can be reached on the procedural and operational arrangements for the committee on missing persons, that the committee can be set up as soon as possible and that it will be in a position to function impartially, effectively and speedily so as to resolve this humanitarian problem without delay. He strongly urges the parties to extend their co-operation so that the remaining obstacles in this regard can be overcome and current negotiations completed successfully. E/CN.4/1275 Annex I page 1 Annex I LETTER DATED 18 JANUARY 1978 PROM MR. VEDAT CELIK ADDRESSED TO MR. REMY GORGE Your letter of 5 January 1978 addressed to His Excellency Rauf Denktas, concerning decision 6 (XXXIII) adopted by the Commission on Human Rights at its 1423rd meeting on 9 March 1977, has been referred to me for reply in my capacity as the Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus. You will recall that resolution 4 (XXXII) of 27 February 1976 of the Commission on Human Rights was adopted at a session of the Commission in which the Turkish Cypriot representative was not allowed to participate. Consequently, the Turkish Cypriot Community did not, and does not, consider the resolution as binding on it. Nevertheless, we had fulfilled our obligation of goodwill in respect of resolution 4 (XXXII), by co-operating for the solution of the humanitarian problems and by providing the Secretary-General with information relevant to the implementation of this resolution, through two subsequent communications addressed to His Excellency J. Perez de Cuellar on 7 August 1976 and 10 January 1977, respectively. The information provided in these communications, which has also been reproduced in annex B of the Secretary-General's report E/CN.4/1239 of 1 February 1977, deals with humanitarian matters with which the Commission have concerned themselves, namely the question of displaced persons and alleged changes in the demographic structure of Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriot side has nothing to add to the information it has already provided on the above; except recent developments with regard to missing persons. As you are no doubt aware, this question was among the subjects of discussion at the summit meeting of 12 February 1977, held between President Rauf Denktas and the late Archbishop Makarios in the presence of the Secretary-General His Excellency Dr. Kurt Waldheim. It was agreed at the meeting that a committee consisting of the Representatives of the Turkish Cypriot Red Crescent and. the Greek Cypriot Red Cross, would be set up and with the assistance of the United Nations investigate the remaining cases of missing persons. We believe that with reciprocal goodwill the question could have been conclusively settled within the framework of this understanding, without having to refer it to an international body. Unfortunately, however, the Greek Cypriot side, posing as the "Government" and refusing to recognize even the existence of the Red Crescent in Cyprus, delayed the establishment of this mechanism, and chose instead, to take the issue to the Third Committee of the General Assembly. In spite of this politically motivated attitude of the Greek Cypriot administration, the Turkish Cypriot side, E/CK.4/1275 Annex I page 2 which has done everything in the past for the solution of humanitarian problems in Cyprus, agreed at the Third Committee of the General Assembly to the setting up of an investigatory committee within the frame-work of the Dehktas-Makarios summit of 12. February 1977, in order to finalize outstanding matters relating to the question of missing persons. Efforts are currently continuing to reach an agree¬ment on the modalities and terms of reference of this committee, and it is hoped that we will soon be in a. position to settle this humanitarian question once and for all, to the satisfaction of both parties. I would like to assure you once again of the fullest co-operation of the Turkish Cypriot side, for the solution of all our outstanding problems. (Signed) Vedat Celik Minister; of Defence and Foreign Affairs E/CN.4/1275 Annex II page 1 Annex II INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS [23 January 1.978] 1. Turkey continues to refuse to allow the Greek-Cypriot inhabitants of the Turkish occupied areas, who were forced by the Turkish Armed Forces to leave their ancestral homes and lands and find refuge in the Government controlled area, to return to their homes in safety, contrary to the specific provisions of the decisions of the Security Council and of the resolutions of the General Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Specifically; (a) General Assembly resolution 3212 (XXIX), endorsed by resolution 365 (1974) of the Security Council, considers in operative paragraph 5 "that all refugees should return to their homes in safety and calls upon the parties concerned to undertake urgent measures to that end". (b) General Assembly resolution 3395 (XXX) of 1975 in operative paragraph 4 "calls upon the parties concerned to undertake urgent measures to facilitate the voluntary return of all refugees to their homes in safety, and to settle all other aspects of the refugee problem". (c) General Assembly resolution 32/15 (1977) in operative paragraph 1 "calls for the urgent and effective implementation of resolution 3212 (XXIX), unanimously adopted by the General Assembly and endorsed by the Security Council in its resolution 365 (1974) of 13 December 1974, as the valid frame-work for the solution of the problem of Cyprus". (d) The General Assembly at its thirty-second session, following a thorough debate in the Third Committee, endorsed, in resolution 32/l3, in its entirety decision 3 (XVI) of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which expressed once again "the hope that the relevant resolutions adopted by the competent organs of the United Nations will be implemented; that a speedy normalization of conditions in Cyprus will be effected, so that all refugees and other human beings in Cyprus suffering hardships because of their racial or ethnic origin will be enabled to enjoy fully their fundamental human rights without discrimination; and that the Government of Cyprus will be enabled to exercise its full responsibility for the implementation of all its obligations under the Convention on its whole national territory". E/CN.4/1275 Annex II page 2 (e) Security Council resolution 414 (1977) in operative paragraph 3 "reaffirms once again its resolution 365 (1974) of 13 December 1974, by which it endorsed General Assembly resolution 3212 (XXIX) adopted unanimously on 1 November 1974, and calls once again for their urgent and effective implementation and that of its resolution 367 (1975) of 12 March 1975". (f) The Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 4 (XXXII), paragraph 1, renewed its call upon the parties concerned "to undertake urgent measures to facilitate the voluntary return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes in safety and to settle all other aspects of the refugee problem". (g) The Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in its resolution 1 (XXVIII) adopted at its twenty-eighth session "invites the parties concerned to do their utmost for ... the return of the refugees to their homes in safety in accordance with the above-mentioned resolutions of the United Nations". 2. The uprooted people referred to in paragraph 1 above continue to be displaced and their properties, worth billions of pounds, continue to be usurped while they themselves are compelled to largely depend upon humanitarian relief. Most of them live in tents, shacks, basements and shanty overcrowded flats and houses under unhygienic and inhuman conditions despite the gigantic effort of the Government of Cyprus, aided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who acts as co-ordinator of international assistance, the solution of the many problems of the refugees (human, economic, social and cultural) is a task difficult to achieve. Instead of taking urgent measures to facilitate the voluntary return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes in safety in accordance with the aforesaid resolutions, Turkey, in furtherance of her policy for the change of the demographic composition of Cyprus, continues to expel the remaining Greek-Cypriot inhabitants of the Turkish occupied area. Thus, out of a total of 8,448 Greek Cypriots who were living there by the end of February 1976 when resolution 4 (XXXII) of the Commission on Human Rights was adopted, today there remain only about 1,814 Greek Cypriots (i.e. by the end of November 1977). This is clearly stated in the latest report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly (document A/32/282 dated 25 October 1977) paragraph 21 of which reads as follows; "According to records compiled by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in his capacity as Co-ordinator of United Nations Humanitarian Assistance for Cyprus, by the International Committee of the Red Cross and by UNFICYP, 180,000 Greek Cypriots were displaced from the north during the 1974 hostilities. A further 3,582 moved south during 1975, 5,828 during 1976 and 910 during the first nine and one-half months of 1977". E/CN.4/1275 Annex II page 3 Also, in paragraph 22 of the same document the Secretary-General reports that: "As a consequence of the exodus of Greek Cypriots during and after the 1974 hostilities, 145 towns and villages in the north have been emptied of their Greek Cypriot population. As at 16 October 1977, a total of 1,882 Greek Cypriots remained in 11 villages in the north. This information is based on reports from UNFICYP, supplemented by data drawn from Cyprus Government sources". Also, in his latest report to the Security Council (S/12463, dated 1 December 1977) the Secretary-General in paragraph 25 states that 1,314 Greek Cypriots remain in the Turkish occupied area. The methods currently used by the Turkish authorities to expel the remaining Greek Cypriots from the Turkish occupied area are similar to those contained in our previous note, dated 18 October 1976 relating to the implementation of resolution 4 (XXXII) of the United Nations Commission of Human Rights and contained in document E/CN.4/l239. Thus the victims of these expulsions are led, through intimidation or otherwise, to sign the so-called "voluntary applications" for their transfer to the Government controlled area.. The reason for adopting this method as compared with the previously practised methods of direct undisguised forcible expulsions is obviously to deceive world public opinion and minimize the reactions of the international organizations. 3. Thus, instead of taking steps for the restoration of human rights in Cyprus, Turkey maintains the policy of their gross and systematic violations; (a) Particulars of the cases of continuing atrocities and crimes committed in the occupied area aiming at the expulsion of the remaining Greek Cypriots, as above, are given from time to time by the Service for Humanitarian Matters, to Dr. Remy Gorge, the Senior Political Adviser of UHFICYP. The Secretary-General in his latest report to the Security Council (document S/12463 dated 1 December 1977) observes "that the situation of the Greek Cypriots in the north remains a matter of concern" (paragraph 67). Asme Humanitas, an independent non-political West German humanitarian organization dedicated to the investigation of violations of human rights all over the world, carried several missions in Cyprus In pursuit of this Objective. During their last visit to Cyprus in 1977 they gave a press conference in the Turkish occupied area of Nicosia on 5 May 1977 during which they expressly stated that their investigation revealed continuing violations of human rights in the occupied area of Cyprus. The full text is attached hereto as an appendix. It is important to note that Asme Humanitas state that the Turkish Cypriots are also "victims of the situation". In fact the Turkish occupation has affected the rights and freedoms of the Turkish Cypriots as well who have also been victimized by the oppressive policy practised by the occupation forces. The Government of Cyprus maintains that Turkey is accountable for grave violations of human rights against 'Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike. In the words of the E/CN.4/1275 Annex II page 4 President of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Spyros Kyprianon "When we speak of freedom of movement, freedom of settlement and the right to property, we have in mind both the Greeks and the Turks of this island" (press conference held in Nicosia on 16 January 1978). (b) Seizure, appropriation, exploitation and distribution of land, houses, enterprises and industries belonging to Greek Cypriots continue unabated by the Turkish authorities on an organized basis, while their Greek owners are prevented to return to them. There was an attempt recently by Turkey, through its instrument, the Turkish Cypriot leadership, to consolidate by an illegal "law" the usurpation of the properties of the expelled Greek Cypriot majority people from the invaded area, and purportedly to legalize the distribution of such properties to Turkish Cypriots and colonizing settlers massively transported from Turkey. To this end, fake "titles of ownership" are being issued to the usurpers, in blatant disregard of the legitimate rights of the legal owners, thereby further aggravating through a pretence of validity and a semblance of permanence the illegal faits accomplis. The Government of Cyprus has complained about this illegal act of Turkey to the Secretary-General of the United Nations by a letter addressed to Mm from the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations in which amongst others it was commented as unprecedented in the United Nations era, that the indigenous majority people expelled by the use of force and terrorist methods from the invaded territory are in the said "law" described as "aliens", and arbitrarily divested of all rights to their properties. It was also stated that this complex of international crimes, constituting at the same time the most abhorrent pattern of racial discrimination, at par with the worst racist regimes, is now officially exercised in Cyprus by the invading power. (c) Robbery of the agricultural produce, livestock, stocks in commercial and industrial enterprises and other movables belonging to Greek Cypriots in the occupied area has continued. Agricultural produce of Greek Cypriot land in the occupied area continues to be appropriated by the Turkish authorities and exported abroad. (d) 'Looting by or with the support of the Turkish troops of appreciable quantities of commercial commodities and other movable properties from Greek Cypriot owned businesses, houses and other premises in the Turkish occupied area, especially in the Famagusta area, has continued. This is confirmed by independent sources such as the United Nations Secretary-General (see the United Nations Secretary-General's reports S/12253 (9 December 1976) paragraph 47, and S/12342 (7 June 1977), paragraph 30). Even Greek Orthodox churches in the Turkish occupied area have not escaped looting and destruction, e.g. the Church of Ayios Mamas the desecration of which still continues. 4. Turkey, in furtherance of her policy of colonization of the occupied area of Cyprus and in a systematic attempt to alter the demographic structure of Cyprus, has continued to promote the settlement of thousands of Turks from Turkey. This E/CN.4/1275 Annex II page 5 policy continues in defiance of the decisions of the Security Council, the resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Commission on Human Rights which urged all parties to refrain from unilateral actions aiming at changing the demographic structure of Cyprus. This colonization operation is confirmed by independent sources. For example, the London newspaper The Guardian, in an article entitled "Words won't shift Turkey", refers on 30 August 1977 to the question of settlement of Turks from Turkey in the occupied area as follows: "They (Turkey) invaded in two separate waves. They camped along the Attila line, holding 36 per cent of Cyprus. They have not budged since. Worse, they have relentlessly filled northern Cyprus with mainland emigrants, squeezing all but a handful of Greeks from their territory. Peace plans have always visualized a measure of Turkish withdrawal. But no peace talks have got anywhere; and now Varesha - a resort that every peace plan envisages returned to Greek hands - is to be progressively settled by Turks". Also, the Belgian magazine Special in its issue of 31 August 1977 writes; "In Kyrenia, Turkish ships transport continuously new settlers to whom Mr. R. Denktash distributes lands and homes belonging to Greek Cypriots". 5. A large category of Cypriots continue to be in anguish because they are not yet in a position to know the fate of their relatives, over two thousand persons, still missing. The Government of Cyprus, having unsuccessfully exerted all efforts in this regard, has requested the United Nations and individual governments alike that they bring pressure to bear on Turkey with a view to co-operating for the establishment of an investigatory body, with the participation of the ICRC, empowered to take decisions by the majority of its members when necessary and enjoying freedom of movement and of action as needed, with a view to tracing and accounting for those missing. Relevan in this respect is resolution 32/128 adopted unanimously by the last session of the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Third Committee, on this subject, which in its operative paragraph 2 "invites the parties concerned to continue co-operating in the establishment of the investigatory body and work out the modalities with a view to activating it expeditiously". In operative paragraph 1 of this resolution, "concerned at the lack of progress towards tracing and accounting for missing persons in Cyprus", the General Assembly requested the "Secretary-General to provide his good offices, through his special representative in Cyprus, to support the establishment of an investigatory body with the participation of the ICRC which would be in a position to function impartially, effectively and speedily so as to resolve the problem without undue delay". The Government of Cyprus reiterates its earnest hope that such a machinery will be established without any further delay, and that the plight of the relatives of missing persons will at long last be alleviated. E/CN.4/1275 Annex II page 6 6. It should be emphasized that the occupied areas continue to be sealed off by the Turkish authorities which do not allow free access even to UNFICYP. As the Secretary-General reported in document S/12463 dated 1 December 1977 (paragraph 32), "UNFICYP freedom of movement in the northern part of Cyprus Continues to be restricted and is generally limited to access to UNFICYP camps, observation and liaison posts and a few other locations. Access to Greek Cypriot habitations in the north has remained as outlined in my report of December 1976 (S/12253,para.42)". Since the submission on 18 October 1976 of the note entitled "Information supplied by the Government of Cyprus relevant to the implementation of resolution 4 (XXXII) adopted by the Commission on Human Rights on 27 February 1976" and contained in document E/CN.4/1239 as annex 'A', Turkey continues to occupy through her armed forces and exercise actual and exclusive authority and control over the whole area of the Republic of Cyprus described in paragraph 24 of the said note. Turkey, therefore, is accountable for the grave violations of human rights which this state of affairs entails per se, as well as of the specific violations enumerated above. Appendix to annex II Press conference given by the humanitarian organization, "ASME HUMANITAS", in Nicosia on 5 May 1977, on the continuing violations of human rights by Turkey in Cyprus 1. We are a humanitarian organization established in Germany in 1973. Our objects and activities relate to the subject of violations of human rights in any part of the world. We have no political objectives and we do not belong or depend in any way on any political organization or government. Also naturally, we investigate complaints of violations of human rights irrespective of the nationality, religion, race or colour of the victims. Our work covers investigation and reporting on incidents of violations of human rights and medical and economical assistance of the victims within the possibility of our means. We are also concerned about human suffering in any form and for any cause. The contributors of our organization consist of individuals who believe in the principles of our organization. They amount to about 30 thousand persons, mostly from Germany. 2. In view of the objectives of our organization, and in furtherance of them, we showed an interest in investigating complaints for violations of human rights in Cyprus and generally for human sufferings. For this purpose we came to Cyprus in September 1974 and in 1976. We are now here for the same purpose. During August 1974 we tried to gain access to the northern part of Cyprus through Turkey, but the Turkish authorities refused permission. In 1976 we tried again for permission to enter the northern part of Cyprus which was granted, but, our movements were restricted and we did not get satisfactory information. This time we have been given facilities to visit various areas in the northern part of the island including the Karpass area. We also met several persons and obtained direct information as to the questions that concern our organization. E/CN.4/1275 Annex II page 7 3. During our stay in Cyprus, "both in the north and in the south, we have investigated various allegations for violation of human rights. For the period 1974-76 we have already prepared a report on the basis of all possible material coming from complainants. According to this report -an interim report - we can confirm that since 1974 violations of human rights have taken place in Cyprus on a big scale. The report is available for anybody interested. 4. The purpose of this Press Conference is to draw the attention to the violations of human rights that are still being committed now in Cyprus, continuously and at a rate which causes anxiety. 5. We have chosen the northern side of the island for a Press Conference because we regret to say that it is in this side that the continuing violations of human rights occur, and we do appeal to the world, the Press and the authorities to do their utmost to remedy the situation and extend every possible relief to the victims. 6. Our investigation in the whole island has revealed extensive violations of human rights, that are being committed now. In particular we wish to refer to the following violations; (a) In the island a considerable number of persons are being deprived of their property, homes, and means of livelihood due to the restrictions of freedom of movement resulting from the policy of the authorities controlling the northern part of Cyprus. (b) The population in the north faces great difficulties because of lack of security for their lives and property. (c) The conditions of life of the Greek Cypriots in the north are particularly oppressive as they are deprived of their basic human rights. We established these facts on visiting the Karpass-Area and talking to many persons on 3 May 1977. In particular - c a - they are deprived of the freedom of movement and trade, c b - they live under permanent fear for their life and property because of continuous harrassment by the mainland Turks and lack of protection, c c - they are deprived of secondary education and of sufficient elementary-school facilities, c d - they are deprived of proper medical services, c e - they are not allowed to look after their fields freely and in many cases not even at all, E/CN.4/1275 Annex II page 8 c f - homes and other properties are often the object of theft and the. people themselves are being beaten and generally inhumanly treated. 7. The problems of the population in the north are becoming greater because of the attitude of the mainland Turks who have settled there in thousands. We received many complaints of many crimes and atrocities committed by the mainland Turks against the population of the north, both Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots, without being punished. 3. We believe that the presence of an army in this area is one of the main causes for the bad living conditions and the human suffering which continues in this island. We hope that this Press Conference will help the situation because having seen many Turkish Cypriots we believe that they themselves, being victims of the situation, should try to come to an understanding with the Greek Cypriots for a quick solution of all humanitarian problems in the interest of the population of Cyprus as a whole. E/CN.4/1275 Annex III Annex III . NOTE VERBALE DATED 31 JANUARY 1978 PROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF TURKEY TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL The Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations presents his compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and with reference to his note of 29 December 1977, concerning the report on the "Question of human rights in Cyprus" which the Secretary-General will submit to the Commission on Human Rights at its thirty-fourth session, has the honour to inform him that the Turkish Government has no further information to add to that provided by H.E. Mr. Vedat Celik, Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus, in his letter of 18 January 1978, addressed to Mr. Remy Gorge. E/CN.4/1275 Annex IV Annex IV NOSE VERBALS DATED 3 FEBRUARY 1978 FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF GREECE TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL The permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations presents his compliments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and in reply to His Excellency's request has the honour to state the following; It is outside the competence of the Greek Government to undertake measures ***** the temptory of another independent and sovereign State such as those called for in operative paragraphs 1 and 2 of resolution 4 (XXXII) of the commission on Human Rights, all the more so as part of the Republic of Cyprus continues to be under Turkish military occupation. It should be, nonetheless, noted,, that, according to reliable information, no restoration of human rights took place in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus under Turkish military control during the period from 1 February 1977 to 31 January 1978. On the contrary, human rights continue to be violated in the territory under Turkish occupation. Thus, the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes in safety is prevented while at the same time Greek-Cypriots enclaved in the occupied area are forced to abandon their homes, as indicated in paragraph 25 of the Secretary-General's report S/12463 dated 1 December 1977 addressed to the Security Council. Moreover, according to irrefutable evidence given by many objective observers, the colonization of the occupied area is pursued with immigrants from Turkish mainland, in flagrant violation of General Assembly and of Human Rights Commission resolutions.. On the other hand, the Turkish-Cypriot authorities are attempting to consolidate, through the passing of an illegal "law", the usurpation of the properties of the expelled Greek-Cypriots from the invaded area and their distribution to Turkish-Cypriots and colonizing settlers from Turkey. Further, on the question of missing persons, the General Assembly by its resolution 32/128 (1978) requested the Secretary-General to provide his good ********* in order to support the establishment of an investigatory body with the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and invited the parties concerned to work out the modalities with a view to activating it expeditiously, The Greek Government urges that the said body be established without further delay in order to trace the missing persons who include a number of Greek nationals. E/CN.4/1275 Annex V Annex V GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 32/128 OF 16 DECEMBER 1977 32/128. Missing persons in Cyprus The General Assembly, Concerned at the lack of progress towards the tracing and accounting for missing persons in Cyprus, Expressing the hope that the informal discussions now taking place to establish a joint committee to trace missing persons are successful, 1. Requests the Secretary-General to provide his good offices, through his Special Representative in Cyprus, to support the establishment of an investigatory body with the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross which would be in a position to function impartially, effectively and speedily so as to resolve the problem without undue delays 2. Invites the parties concerned to continue co-operating in the establishment of the investigatory body and work out the modalities with a view to activating it expeditiously. 105th plenary meeting 16 December 1977