| 5 September 2007 |
The Organization of Reletives of Missing Cypriots (UK) has sent a petition to the British Prime Minister regarding the missing persons issue.
Read the petition below ...
Η Οργάνωση Συγγενών Κυπρίων Αγνοουμένων (ΗΒ) απέστειλε αίτημα στον Βρεττανό Πρωθυπουργό σχετικά με το θέμα των αγνοουμένων.
Διαβάστε πιο κάτω το πλήρες κείμενο του αιτήματος. ( Το κείμενο είναι στην αγγλική γλώσσα) ...
ORGANISATION OF RELATIVES OF MISSING CYPRIOTS (UK)
ORGANWSH SUGGENWN KUPRIWN AGNOOUMENWN (HB)
21 Trinity Road
London
N22 4LB. Office Telephone: 020-8805 6939
E-mail: ormc1974@btopenworld.com
The R. H. Gordon Brown
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA.
5 September 2007
Dear Prime Minister,
The Relatives of Missing Cypriots living in the UK, with the expressed support of over 16,700 other people who signed the Petition which we are presenting to you today, accompanied by Members of Parliament, are petitioning you,
.. to demand of Turkey that it comply fully with the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights, which found it guilty of violating the right to life and liberty of Cypriots regarded as missing persons since its illegal invasion and occupation of Cyprus in 1974 and for violating the right of their relatives not to be subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment, whilst searching for news of their loved ones.
We are doing so because over fourteen hundred people are still missing. Many were soldiers, who were either taken alive as undeclared prisoners of war or went missing in action in areas now under occupation. Also missing are many civilians: men, women and children who were rounded up by the Turkish army from their own homes and villages but never released.
Turkey ignores UN, EU and Council of Europe resolutions calling for an end to this humanitarian problem. Refuses even to comply with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (Appl. No; 25781/94-10 May 2001) and interim resolutions by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe backing the Court’s decision.
In recent months the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus has been reactivated under the aegis of the UN Secretary-General, and progress, albeit slow, has been made with exhumation and identification of remains of both Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot Missing Persons. This progress was achieved through the constructive cooperation of both communities on this purely humanitarian issue.
We do consider this development as a step in the right direction. However, the effective investigations demanded by the ECHR judgment cannot be limited to exhumations, and the investigations cannot be limited only in Cyprus. Turkey must provide information about the fate of all those who disappeared following their arrest by the Turkish army and many of them subsequently been removed to Turkey as can be certified by international organisations such as the ICRC, who interview them.
Turkey must also provide information on the fate and whereabouts of as many as thirty children that were abducted during the invasion but were never released. One such case is of Christakis Georgiou, aged five at the time, for whom recent evidence (a Turkish army memorandum) clearly indicate that he was moved to Turkey for hospital treatment, but as yet his family do not know his fate.
The ECHR found Turkey guilty “for violating the right of their relatives not to be subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment, whilst searching for news of their loved ones”. How more cruel the violation of the right of the relatives whose loved one happened to have been moved to Turkey?
The problem of Missing Persons of Cyprus, as a direct result of the Turkish invasion, can not conclusively be resolved without the cooperation of the Turkish Government. We hope that you and our UK Government, would be sensitive to our pain and agony, and will adopt the necessary policies towards the Turkish Government so that it can be persuaded to provide the long overdue answers, by initiating appropriate investigations as demanded by the Court, without any further delay.
Yours Sincerely,
Nick Neokleous
President ORMC (UK)