EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 286/13

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Missing persons in Cyprus — Follow-up

P6_TA(2008)0292

European Parliament resolution of 18 June 2008 on Missing persons in Cyprus — Follow-up to the European Parliament resolution of 15 March 2007 (2007/2280(INI))

2009/C 286 E/03

The European Parliament,

having regard to its resolution of 15 March 2007 on missing persons in Cyprus (1),

having regard to the relevant reports of the United Nations Secretary-General (2), resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (3) and international initiatives taken to investigate the fate of missing persons in Cyprus (4),

having regard to the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of 10 May 2001 (5) and 10 January 2008 (6) concerning missing persons in Cyprus,

having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A6-0139/2008),

A. whereas the visit of Parliament's rapporteur to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), to the exhumation sites, to the bi-communal anthropological laboratory and to the families of missing persons in Cyprus was exclusively meant to examine the humanitarian problem of the missing persons (Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots) deriving from the right of the relatives of the missing persons to know their fate,

B. whereas the great agony and suffering of the families of the missing persons, who have remained ignorant of the fate of their beloved relatives for decades, still continues and whereas all efforts must therefore be made to expedite the investigations while eye-witnesses can still give evidence,

C. whereas the CMP in Cyprus has made progress since 2004, with the exhumation and identification of remains, and shows determination to move forward, with a view to achieving results which can only be achieved if their capacity is increased, particularly in the field,

D. whereas the CMP Project on the Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons has been running since August 2006 and, to date, 398 sets of remains have been exhumed, 266 of which have been analysed at the CMP anthropological laboratory in an attempt to make presumptive identifications,

E. whereas the Laboratory of Forensic Genetics of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics was assigned the responsibility of identifying the skeletal remains exhumed by using DNA-typing methodologies, the first specimens being submitted at the beginning of April 2007,

F. whereas the first positive identifications were made at the end of June 2007 and, to date, 91 remains of individuals exhumed within the framework of the CMP Project have been identified through this process,

G. whereas the biggest single contribution to the CMP, EUR 1,5 million, only covers the period to the end of 2008, and came within the framework of the EU financial support to the Turkish-Cypriot community.

H. whereas the constructive cooperation between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot members of the CMP as well as the good cooperation between the bi-communal teams of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, both in the laboratory and in the field, should especially be noted,

1. Calls on the parties concerned to continue the honest and sincere cooperation aimed at a speedy completion of the appropriate investigations into the fate of all missing persons in Cyprus, and to give full effect to the ECHR judgment of 10 May 2001;

2. Calls on the parties concerned and all those who have, or are in a position to have, any information or evidence emanating from personal knowledge, archives, battlefield reports or records of detention sites to pass that information or evidence on to the CMP to help expedite its work;

3. Supports the allocation of further financial support to the CMP for the years 2009 onwards and considers it essential to provide for an additional amount of EUR 2 million in the general budget of the European Union for 2009;

4. Calls on the Council and the Commission to agree on this further financial assistance for 2009, not only to continue the work, but also to increase capacity, particularly in the field, to hire more scientists and to fund more equipment;

5. Calls on the Member States to continue the support they have given so far;

6. Requests its Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs to continue to follow-up the issue of missing persons in Cyprus and to submit annual reports;

7. Authorises Parliament's rapporteur and its Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs to take all possible steps to convince all parties concerned to contribute sincerely and actively to the endeavours in the investigation into the fate of each and every missing person;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the governments and parliaments of Cyprus, Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom, and the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus.

(1) OJ C 301 E, 13.12.2007, p. 243.

(2) Notably the latest one on the United Nations Operation in Cyprus (S/2008/353), Chapter IV.

(3) Notably Resolution 1818(2008) of 13 June 2008.

(4) Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus: http://www.cmp-cyprus.org

(5) Cyprus v. Turkey [GC], no. 25781/94, ECHR 2001-IV.

(6) Varnava and Others v. Turkey, nos. 16064/90, 16065/90,16066/90, 16068/90, 16069/90, 16070/90, 16071/90, 16072/90 and 16073/90; pending on appeal.