UN Human Rights Treaties

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL Distr. GENERAL 25 January 1983 Original! ENGLISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Thirty-ninth session Item 12 (a) of the provisional agenda QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OP HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY PART OF TIE WORLD, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO COLONIAL AND OTHER DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, INCLUDING: (a) Question of human rights in Cyprus GE.83-10366 E/CN.4/1985/23 page 2 Report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to decision 1982/102 of the Commission on Human Rights 1. This report is submitted pursuant to decision 1982/102, which was adopted by the Commission on Human Eights on 11 March 1982. By that decision, the Commission postponed to its thirty-ninth session the debate under the item entitled "Question of Human Rights in Cyprus", with due priority at that session, it being understood that "action required by previous resolutions of the Commission on this subject continue to remain operative including the request to the Secretary-General to provide a report to the Commission regarding their implementation". The present report contains a summary of developments since the Secretary-General's last report to the Commission of 4 February 1962 (E/CN.4/1982/8), 2. It will be recalled that a Committee on Missing Persons was established in Cyprus and began its deliberations on 14 July 1981 (5/CN.4/1982/8, paras. 3-10)* The procedural difficulties that were encountered by the Committee have persisted throughout the last 12 months, and the Committee has therefore been unable to perform its substantive functions. The Secretary-General and his representatives have continued their efforts to assist in overcoming these difficulties so as to enable the Committee to carry out its important humanitarian task:. 3. In July 1982, the Chairman and one other member of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the Commission on Human Rights visited Cyprus and met with the representatives of both communities on the Committee of Missing Persons as well as with other officials. They were also in contact in Geneva with the third member of the Committee. The report of the Working Group submitted to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1963/14) contains an account of its activities concerning Cyprus in 1982. 4. On 17 December 1982, the General Assembly adopted resolution 37/181 whereby, inter alia, it invited the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to follow developments and to recommend ways or means to the parties concerned with a view to overcoming the pending procedural difficulties of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus and in co-operation with it to facilitate the effective implementation of its investigative work on the basis of the existing relevant agreements; called upon all parties concerned to facilitate such investigation in a spirit of co-operation and goodwill; and requested the Secretary-General to continue to provide his good offices with a view to facilitating the work of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus. 5. The situation regarding the implementation of those provisions of previous resolutions of the Commission which dealt with refugees and displaced persons and with changes in the demographic structure of Cyprus remains essentially as previously reported. The number of Greek Cypriots living in the north of the island has further diminished. As of 17 January 1983, 942 Greek Cypriots lived in the north, while 186 Turkish Cypriots lived in the south of the island. The majority of Greek Cypriots moving to the south belong to families with children who have reached secondary school age and who go to the south because there are no Greek language secondary schools in the north. Since April 1979, children attending school in the south have not been able to visit their parents or grandparents living in the north, except in a few cases in which visits were arranged for compassionate reasons. E/CN.4/1983/25 page 3 6. The activities of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNPICYP) are described in the Secretary-General's report to the Security Council (see S/15149 of 1 June 1982 and S/15502 and Corr.l of 1 December 1962). UNFICYF has continued its efforts, under its mandate (see Security Council resolution 186 (1964) of 4 March 1954) to contribute as necessary to a return to normal conditions. UNFICYP has also continued to discharge humanitarian functions on behalf of the Greek Cypriots in the north as well as to make periodic visits to the Turkish Cypriots in the south. UNFICYP has ensured that transfers of persons from one part of the island to the other take place voluntarily. It has also continued to provide its good offices on matters concerning the freedom of movement of Greek Cypriots in the north. In this connection, visits to the south for family and other reasons were arranged with the assistance of UNFICYP, The Force also provided its good offices in arranging for meetings in the south with relatives holding foreign passports: out of 64 applications, 34 were successfully processed. In spring 1982, UNFICYP received complaints that the freedom of movement of Greek Cypriots in the north had been further restricted. Following contacts with those concerned, UNFICYP was informed that the matter had been resolved. 7. Contacts between members of the Maronite community residing on opposite sides of the cease-fire lines which separate the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities remained frequent. In the north, they continued to enjoy considerable freedom of movement, and visits from north to south and vice versa were frequent and were arranged on an ad hoc basis. There was however, a situation which developed in July 1982 in the Maronite villages of AsoMstos, Karpasia and Kormakiti and which was brought to the attention of "UNFICYP. It pertained to the requisitioning by the Turkish Cypriot authorities of 32 houses owned by Maronites who had moved to the south. The Turkish Cypriots explained to UNFICYP that this measure was made necessary by the housing shortage in the area.