APPLICATIONS Nos. 6780/74 AND 6950/75 CYPRUS
AGAINST
TURKEY
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION (Adopted on 10 July 1976)
(Excerpts)
PART IV - CONCLUSIONS The Commission,
Having examined the allegations in the two applications (see Part II above);
Having found that Art. 15 of the Convention does not apply (see Part III);
Arrives at the following conclusions:
I. Displacement of persons
The Commission concludes by thirteen votes against one that, by the
refusal to allow the return of more than 170,000 Greek Cypriot refugees
to their homes in the north of Cyprus, Turkey violated, and was continuing
to violate, Art. 8 of the Convention in all these cases.
The Commission concludes by twelve votes against one that, by the eviction
of Greek Cypriots from houses, including their own homes, by their transportation
to other places within the north of Cyprus, or by their deportation across
the demarcation line, Turkey has equally violated Art. 8 of the Convention.
The Commission concludes by thirteen votes against one that, by the
refusal to allow the return to their homes in the north of Cyprus to several
thousand Greek Cypriots who had been transfered to the south under inter-communal
agreements, Turkey violated, and was continuing to violate, Art. 8 of the
Convention in all these cases.
The Commission concludes by fourteen votes against one with one abstention
that, by the separation of Greek Cypriot families brought about by measures
of displacement in a substantial number of cases, Turkey has again violated
Art. 8 of the Convention.
II. Deprivation of liberty
'Enclaved persons' (a) The Commission, by eight votes against five votes and with two
abstentions, concludes that the curfew imposed at night on enclaved Greek
Cypriots in the north of Cyprus, while a restriction of liberty, is not
a deprivation of liberty within the meaning of Art. 5(1) of the Convention.
(b) The Commission, by twelve votes with two abstentions, further concludes
that the alleged restrictions of movement outside the built-up area of
villages in the north of Cyprus would fall within the scope of Art. 2 of
Protocol No. 4, not ratified by either Cyprus or Turkey, rather than within
the scope of Art. 5 of the Convention. It is therefore unable to find a
violation of Art. 5 insofar as the restrictions imposed on Greek Cypriots
in order to prevent them from moving freely outside villages in the north
of Cyprus are imputable to Turkey.
'Detention centres' (a) The Commission, by thirteen votes against one, concludes that,
by the confinement of more than two thousand Greek Cypriots to detention
centres established in schools and churches at Voni, Gypsou and Morphou,
Turkey has violated Art 5(1) of the Convention.
(b) The Commission, by thirteen votes against one, further concludes that,
by the confinement of Greek Cypriots to private houses in Gypsou and Morphou,
where they were kept under similar circumstances as in the detention centres,
Turkey has equally violated Art. 5(1).
(c) The Commission, by ten votes against two with two abstentions, finally
concludes that, by the confinement of Greek Cypriots to the Kyrenia Dome
Hotel after 14 August 1974, Turkey has again violated Art. 5(1).
'Prisoners and detainees' (a) The Commission, by thirteen votes against one, concludes that the
detention of Greek Cypriot military personnel in Turkey was not in conformity
with Art. 5(1) of the Convention.
(b) The Commission, by thirteen votes against one, concludes that the detention
of Greek Cypriot civilians in Turkey was equally not in conformity with
Art. 5(1). (c) Considering that it was unable to establish the imputability
to Turkey under the Convention of the detention of 146 Greek Cypriots at
Saray prison and Pavlides Garage in the Turkish sector of Nicosia, the
Commission, by ten votes against two with two abstentions, does not consider
itself called upon to express an opinion as to the conformity with Art.
5 of the detention of Greek Cypriot prisoners in the north of Cyprus. (d)
The Commission, by 14 votes against none, with two abstentions, has not
found it necessary to examine the question of a breach of Art. 5 with regard
to persons accorded the status of prisoners of war.
Final observation The Commission, by seven votes against six with three abstentions,
decided not to consider as a separate issue the effect of detention on
the exercise of the right to respect for one's private and family life
and home (Art. 8 of the Convention).
III. Deprivation of life
The Commission, by fourteen votes against one, considers that the evidence
before it constitutes very strong indications of violations of Art 2 of
the Convention by Turkey in a substantial number of cases. The Commission
restricted the taking of evidence to a hearing of a limited number of representative
witnesses and the Delegation, during the period fixed for the hearing of
witnesses, heard eye-witnesses only concerning the incident of Elia. The
evidence obtained for this incident establishes the killing of twelve civilians
near Elia by Turkish soldiers commanded by an officer contrary to Art.
2. In view of the very detailed material before it on other killings alleged
by the applicant Government the Commission, by fourteen votes against one,
concludes from the whole evidence that killings happened on a larger scale
than in Elia. There is nothing to show that any of these deprivations of
life were justified under paras. (1) or (2) of Art. 2.
IV. Ill-treatment
The Commission, by twelve votes against one, finds that the incidents
of rape described in the cases referred to and regarded as established
constitute 'inhuman treatment' and thus violations of Art. 3, for which
Turkey is responsible under the Convention.
The Commission, by twelve votes against one, concludes that prisoners
were in a number of cases physically ill-treated by Turkish soldiers. These
acts of ill-treatment caused considerable injuries and at least in one
case the death of the victim. By their severity they constitute 'inhuman
treatment' and thus violations of Art. 3, for which Turkey is responsible
under the Convention.
The Commission, by twelve votes against one, concludes that the withholding
of an adequate supply of food and drinking water and of adequate medical
treatment from Greek Cypriot prisoners held at Adana and detainees in the
northern area of Cyprus, with the exception of Pavlides Garage and Saray
prison, again constitutes, in the cases considered as established and in
the conditions described, 'inhuman treatment' and thus a violation of Art.
3, for which Turkey is responsible under the Convention.
The Commission, by twelve votes against one, concludes that the written
statements submitted by the applicant Government constitute indications
of ill-treatment by Turkish soldiers of persons not in detention.
V. Deprivation of possessions
The Commission, by twelve votes against one, finds it established that
there has been deprivation of possessions of Greek Cypriots on a large
scale, the exact extent of which could not be determined. This deprivation
must be imputed to Turkey under the Convention and it has not been shown
that any of these interferences were necessary for any of the purposes
mentioned in Art. 1 of Protocol No. 1. The Commission concludes that this
provision has been violated by Turkey.
VI. Forced labour
The Commission, by eight votes against three votes and with one abstention,
finds that the incompleteness of the investigation with regard to the allegations
of forced labour does not allow any conclusions to be made on this issue.
VII. Other issues
The Commission, by twelve votes against one vote and with three abstentions,
considers that no further issue arises under Art. 1 of the Convention.
The Commission, by thirteen votes against one vote and with two abstentions,
has found no evidence that effective remedies, as required by Art. 13 of
the Convention, were in fact available.
Having found violations of a number of Articles of the Convention,
the Commission notes that the acts violating the Convention were exclusively
directed against members of one of two communities in Cyprus, namely the
Greek Cypriot community. It concludes by eleven votes to three that Turkey
has thus failed to secure the rights and freedoms set forth in these Articles
without discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin, race and religion
as required by Art. 14 of the Convention.
The Commission, by twelve votes with four abstentions, considers that
Art. 17 and 18 of the Convention do not raise separate issues in the present
case. Secretary to the Commission President of the Commission
(H.C. KR†GER) (J.E.S. FAWCETT)
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Last modified: Sat Aug 17 23:12:06 EDT 1996
