Source: http://cyprus-conflict.org/materials/echr/page3.html
Timestamp: 2018-03-17 05:57:37
Document Index: 74237300

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 6780', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 14', 'Application No. 6950', 'Application No. 6780', 'Application No. 6780', 'Art. 1', 'Art. 14', 'Application No. 6780', 'Application No. 6780', 'Application No. 6780', 'Art. 26', 'Art. 28']

Chapter 2 - Substance of the Applications
a) Application No. 6780/74
"1. The Republic of Cyprus contends that the Republic of Turkey has committed and continues to commit, in the course of the events outlined hereinafter, both in Cyprus and Turkey, breaches of Arts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13 and 17 of the Convention and Art. 1 of the First Protocol and of Art. 14 of the Convention in conjunction with all the aforementioned Articles.
3. On 14 August 1974 by further military operations Turkey extended its occupation to about 40 percent of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, and continues to remain in occupation of such territory.
3. In the course of the said military operations and occupation, Turkish armed forces have, by way of systematic conduct and adopted practice, caused deprivation of life, including indiscriminate killing of civilians, have subjected persons of both sexes and all ages to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment, including commission of rapes and detention under inhuman conditions, have arrested and are detaining in Cyprus and Turkey hundreds of persons arbitrarily and with no lawful authority, are subjecting the said persons to forced labour under conditions amounting to slavery or servitude, have caused through the aforesaid detention, as well as by deplacement of thousands of persons from their places of residence and refusal to all of them to return thereto, separations of families and other interferences with private life, have caused destruction of property and obstruction of free enjoyment of property, and all the above acts have been directed against Greek Cypriots only, due, inter alia, to their national origin, race and religion.
20. The applicant Government gave further particulars of the above allegations in their written submission of 15 November 1974 (entitled "Particulars of the Application"), at the hearing on 22 and 23 May 1975 and in the subsequent proceedings before the Commission and its Delegation.
b) Application No. 6950/75
"1. The Republic of Cyprus contends that the Republic of Turkey has committed and continues to commit, since 19 September 1974 when Application No. 6780/74 was filed, in the areas occupied by the Turkish army in Cyprus, under the actual and exclusive authority and control of Turkey (as per Paras. 12, 18 and 19 of the Particulars of Application No. 6780/74 pending before the Commission of Human Rights) breaches of Arts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13 and 17 of the Convention and Art. 1 of the First Protocol and of Art. 14 of the Convention in conjunction with all the aforementioned Articles.
2. Turkey, since 19 September 1974, continues' to occupy 40% of the Territory of the Republic of Cyprus, seized as described in the Particulars of the said Application ...
(c) Forcible eviction from homes and land. The Greek Cypriots who were forcibly expelled by the Turkish army from their homes (about 200,000) as per Para. 20 C of (the Particulars of) Application No. 6780/74, are still being prevented by the Turkish army to return to their homes in the Turkish occupied areas and are refugees in their own country living in open camps under inhuman conditions. Moreover, the Turkish military authorities continue to expel forcibly from their homes the remaining Greek Cypriot inhabitants in the Turkish occupied areas most of whom are forcibly transferred to concentration, camps. They are not even allowed to take with them their basic belongings. Their homes and properties have been distributed amongst the Turkish Cypriots who were shifted from the southern part of Cyprus into the Turkish occupied areas as well as amongst many Turks who were illegally brought from Turkey in an attempt to change the demographic pattern on the Island.
(e) Robbery of the agriculture produce and livestock, housing units, stocks in stores, in factories and shops owned by Greek Cypriots and of jewellery and other valuables found on Greek Cypriots arrested by the Turkish army continues uninterrupted. The agricultural produce belonging to Greek Cypriots continues to be collected and exported directly or indirectly to markets in several European countries. Nothing belonging to the Greek Cypriots in the Turkish occupied areas has been returned and no compensation was paid or offered in respect thereof.
(f) The seizure, appropriation, exploitation and distribution of land, houses, enterprises and industries belonging to Greek Cypriots, as described in Para. 20 F of the Particulars of Application No. 6780/74 continues.
(g) Thousands of Greek Cypriot civilians of all ages and both sexes are arbitrarily detained by the Turkish military authorities in the Turkish occupied areas under miserable conditions. For this purpose additional concentration camps were established. The report mentioned in the observations of the Cyprus Government on the admissibility of Application No. 6780/74 describes the conditions of some cases of such detention. The situation of most of the detainees is desperate.
(h) Greek Cypriot detainees and inhabitants of the Turkish occupied areas, including children, women and elderly people continue to be the victims of systematic tortures and of other inhuman and degrading treatment, e.g. wounding, beating, electric shocks, lack of food and medical treatment, etc.
(i) Forced labour. A great number of persons detained by the Turkish army, including women, were and still are made during their detention, to perform forced and compulsory labour.
6. No remedy in the Turkish Courts was under the circumstances likely to be effective and adequate for the atrocities and crimes in question. In any case all the above atrocities and crimes were committed under such circumstances which excuse the failure to resort to any domestic remedy for the purposes of Art. 26 of the Convention.
8. All the above atrocities and criminal acts can be proved by evidence including evidence of eye witnesses. Other sources of evidence as to the above matters are international organisations like the United Nations and the International Rod Cross.
10. It should be mentioned that it was not possible until now to ascertain in full the magnitude of the savage crimes perpetrated by Turkey in the Turkish-controlled areas as these areas are still sealed off and the Turkish military authorities do not allow free access to them even by UNFICYP and humanitarian organisations.
22. The applicant Government gave further particulars of the above allegations at the hearing on 22 and 23 May 1975, in their written submissions of 14 July 1975 (entitled "Particulars of the Application") and in the subsequent proceedings before the Commission and its Delegation.
c) Statement of the respondent Government
23. The respondent Government, in a letter of 27 November 1975, declared that "Turkey cannot be required to accept the Greek Cypriot administration as applicant, since there is no authority which can properly require the Turkish Government to recognise against its will the legitimacy of a government which has usurped the powers of the State in violation of the Constitution of which Turkey is a guarantor." It followed in the Government's view "that the function which is the Commission's principal task under Art. 28 of the Convention on Human Rights, namely of placing itself at the disposal of the parties with a view to securing a friendly settlement, cannot be discharged, for the simple reason that the Turkish Government cannot agree to enter into talks with the representatives of an administration which it is entirely unable to recognise as a legal authority empowered to represent the Republic of Cyprus." The Government stated that they were therefore "unable to take part in the proceedings on the merits before the Commission. Since the press communiqué publishing the Commission's decision on admissibility was issued, the Turkish Government has in fact categorically refrained from participating in any of the Commission's activities. In this connection, it should be emphasised that the remarks made by Ambassador Günver, the new Permanent Representative of Turkey to the Council of Europe, during a courtesy call which he paid to the President of the Commission, although they were included in the case file in the form of a note drafted by the Commission, can in no way be interpreted as participation by my Government in the Commission's examination of the merits of the case." [27]
[27] Translation from the French original by the Council of Europe. The full text of this letter is reproduced in Appendix II to this Report.