Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-04-22

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Wedneday, April 22, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Massive rise in juvenile crime

[02] Sons unhurt by bomb under their bedroom

[03] Teenager dies from burns

[04] Government welcomes US initiative

[05] Searching for the magic formula

[06] Aids tests show two 'victims' in the clear

[07] Police investigate rape complaint

[08] Bases deny British soldiers attacked policeman

[09] Epicentre of quakes was inland

[10] UN wants details of Turkish Cypriot human rights charges

[11] Easter eaters suffer after food fast

[12] Swiss banks arbitrator post for Jacovides

[13] Greens set for Akamas showdown with UK troops

[01] Massive rise in juvenile crime

JUVENILE crime in Cyprus has more than doubled in the space of a year, according to official statistics released yesterday.

Of the 4,594 serious offences reported to police in 1996, 484 involved juveniles - an increase of 123 per cent compared to 1995. Almost 80 per cent of juvenile crimes were against property, the Statistics and Research Department Crime Report for 1996 showed.

It showed the overall rate of reported crime increased by 12 per cent compared to the previous year.

The crime explosion occurred mostly in towns, with Limassol claiming the unenviable title of crime capital of Cyprus.

Most offenders were, as in previous years, young males.

Overall, the largest increase recorded (25 per cent) was in attacks on people, while crimes against property rose by 21 per cent. Offences against property accounted for almost two thirds of all crimes in 1996, while the number of offences against the person remained relatively low, at 163 or 3.5 per cent of all reported crime.

The detection rate for crimes against property was, at 49.8 per cent, much lower than the overall detection rate of 78.6 per cent. It takes police 13 and a half months, on average, to solve a crime, the figures showed.

Just over three-quarters of reported crime was in urban areas, with Limassol accounting for 30 per cent and Nicosia 27 per cent.

The government statistics show a steady increase in reported crime since the 1970s. The number of serious offences reported to police per 100,000 people was 699 in 1996, compared to 628 in 1995, 439 in 1980 and 416 in 1976.

[02] Sons unhurt by bomb under their bedroom

The blast caused extensive damage to a tractor owned by Stavros Galataris, which was parked in a garage underneath the first-floor room at Lymbia.

Andreas Galataris, 17, and his brothers Dimitris, 13, and Marinos, 8, were asleep when the bomb went off at 1am, causing cracks in the room's walls and blowing out the windows.

Galataris' brother-in-law, who lives in the house next door, said yesterday there was a strong smell of gunpowder immediately after the tractor blew up.

Police said the device that caused the explosion had been placed beside the tyre of the £25,000 tractor, which sustained damage estimated at more than £5,000.

Meanwhile, at the weekend a home-made explosive device damaged a car in Vrysoules in the free Famagusta area owned by Vasso Andreou, 23, a divorced mother from Acheritou.

Police explosives experts later confirmed it had been caused by a pipe-bomb placed underneath her car.

[03] Teenager dies from burns

A TEENAGER died yesterday after suffering extensive burns from an Easter bonfire.

Fireworks also damaged buildings and telephone booths as Cypriots ignored police appeals not to use bangers over the Easter holidays.

Panayiotis Spetsiotis, 16, from Xylophagou, suffered extensive first and second degree burns to 80 per cent of his body when his clothes caught fire outside the village church. He was rushed to hospital where he remained in critical condition. He died yesterday evening.

Police reported a series of incidents over the three-day break. Several people, including minors, were charged with selling or using bangers, and scores of bangers were confiscated.

The most serious injuries occurred round the traditional burning of Judas during Saturday's midnight mass.

A twelve-year-old boy, Solon Polyviou, was rushed to hospital with injuries to his left eye, apparently sustained when someone threw a banger into a fire. He is in a serious condition.

In two separate incidents, an 18-year-old was injured on the neck by a firework, while a teenager was slightly injured on the hand. Both were treated in hospital.

Bangers thrown in Liopetri church blew a fuse and delayed mass by an hour.

Another banger in a church in Mazotos set the curtain on fire, while in Prodromi Paphos, a banger exploded on the roof of the church and fell in the church yard. There were no injuries but the £200 suit of a bystander was singed.

Explosions -- apparently the result of home-made bangers -- damaged two telephone booths in Nicosia and a cinema and nursery school in Livadhia, causing damage estimated at hundreds of pounds.

[04] Government welcomes US initiative

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday thanked US President Bill Clinton for making the Cyprus issue a priority, and said it was ready to work constructively with any initiative under UN auspices.

Although refusing to reveal the contents of Monday's talks with State Department Co-ordinator Thomas Miller, it nevertheless made clear that a four-party meeting - which would bring together Greece, Turkey and the two communities - was not on the cards.

In a statement a day after Miller's visit, President Clerides has welcomed the US initiative that is now under way.

The statement, read out by Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides, came a day after Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash spoke effusively about the US.

Clerides said he had informed Cypriots the US initiative would manifest itself after the presidential elections.

"The visits of Mr (Richard) Holbrooke and Mr Miller constitute part of the pre-announced initiative and will continue more intensively in May," the statement said.

Clerides said the Greek Cypriot side was "ready to work constructively with any initiative which is held under the auspices of the United Nations, in order to support the good offices mission of the secretary-general and which aims at a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the high level agreements and UN resolutions on Cyprus."

The president said the government wanted to thank Clinton for making a settlement a US priority, and appointing Holbrooke, whom he called an experienced negotiator, to head the US initiative.

Stylianides yesterday would not comment on the contents of Miller's visit, nor on Denktash's statements. He would only say a four-party conference had "not been raised by anyone".

Miller's lightning visit - which took in separate talks with Clerides and Denktash - set the ground for the forthcoming arrival of Clinton's envoy Richard Holbrooke.

Miller told reporters after a two-hour meeting with Denktash that he looks forward to his return in May with Holbrooke for "what will be a very, very important visit".

He would not say whether he was optimistic or pessimistic."I am here to do a job that our government, that President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright think is a very important job."

Denktash said it was always helpful to talk about the Cyprus problem with people "who have good intentions of trying to help us, especially with trusted friends who are not trying to remove the problem away from the context of the UN".

He said he welcomed talks with friends who are trying to help the UN secretary-general, and who are involved with interested parties - Turkey, Greece, the Turkish and Greek Cypriots - "in a friendly and constructive way".

He said he looked forward to Holbrooke's visit. "We welcome this and hope he will do a good job," he said.

Miller then met Clerides, and said the purpose of his short trip was to "set the stage for when Ambassador Richard Holbrooke returns in early May. This is a very, very important trip," he repeated.

And he added: "Our efforts to try to address the core issues of the Cyprus problem continue."

[05] Searching for the magic formula

THE UNITED States is understood to be looking for a formula to bring in more parties round the negotiating table with the relaunch of inter- communal talks, sources indicated yesterday.

No deadline has been set. But President Clinton's high profile envoy Richard Holbrooke is expected to discuss such a possibility when he visits Cyprus early next month.

Holbrooke is playing his cards close to his chest. Sources suggest the idea is to relaunch the process but not to restrict them to direct talks between President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

Instead the US is said to be looking for a formula to bring in more observers, and at a higher level. The US itself will play a lead role in the whole effort.

The methodology of the talks has not been discussed since efforts are concentrating on getting them restarted. Denktash's statements on Monday after meeting State Department Co-ordinator Thomas Miller suggest he may be ready to drop his demand that the talks be held on the basis of two states.

There are signs the US will focus on substance in a break from the practice pursued by the UN's Diego Cordovez and Britain's Sir David Hannay to concentrate on constitutional issues.

For its part, the government has made clear it is ready to enter into any process leading to a comprehensive settlement provided it is held under the auspices of the United Nations and based on the high level agreements and UN resolutions.

It has welcomed the US initiative and clarified that a four-party conference - which would bring to the table Greece, Turkey and the two communities - has never been raised.

The government is also understood to favour Russian involvement in the process in its capacity as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

With sights firmly set on EU accession, the government has been careful to tread a fine line, avoiding blame for being intransigent but stopping short of making concessions on substance.

The unfolding of the US initiative, with frequent visits expected by Holbrooke and Miller, underlines American determination to push for a settlement.

Sources said the recent mobility appeared to indicate Ankara was beginning to realise the US saw its strategic interests in the region as best served with the Cyprus problem resolved.

They did not rule out that Turkey may be looking for some kind of payback from the European Union at its next summit in Cardiff in June - perhaps inclusion as a candidate country.

But they said they did not believe Athens was ready to lift its veto freezing EU funds for Ankara in return only for Denktash's return to the negotiations.

[06] Aids tests show two 'victims' in the clear

TWO MEN allegedly deliberately exposed to the Aids virus by a woman carrier have not contracted the disease, the Nicosia District Court heard yesterday.

London Cypriot Chrysavgi Zarzour, 27, has pleaded guilty to charges of having sex with two men in the past few months without informing them of her condition or taking precautions.

The court heard that her two alleged 'victims' - a married 29-year-old taxi driver and a 22-year-old single man - had undergone blood tests and were in the clear. The test results for the 22-year-old were only preliminary but were almost certainly reliable, state prosecutor Maria Malachtou told the court.

Zarzour, who has full-blown Aids, has been charged under a decades-old law providing for a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine of £1,500, or both, for the deliberate spread of life-threatening disease.

Her sentence should be unaffected by the men's good fortune, but defence lawyer Andreas Eftichiou nonetheless played on this when pleading for a lenient sentence yesterday.

The court is to sentence Zarzour on Monday.

Malachtou said the mother of two picked up men and had sex with them without informing them of her condition and sometimes without using a condom. Zarzour, who left London to come to Cyprus in 1987, was originally charged with exposing four men to Aids, but two of these charges were later dropped. The court heard yesterday that the two dropped charges concerned cases where the defendant had used a condom.

The prosecutor said doctors treating Zarzour at the Larnaca Aids clinic repeatedly warned her against unprotected sex but found her "un- cooperative".

Malachtou told the court that when Zarzour was asked by police, following her arrest in late March, whether she told her sexual partners she was HIV- positive she replied: "Some I tell, some I don't."

Eftichiou painted a different picture of the defendant.

He dismissed Malachtou's account of Zarzour 'leading men on', saying her actions were the result of inebriation. His client developed a drinking habit in an effort to escape the depression brought on by being treated as an outcast because of her condition, Eftichiou said. He said his client's sexual partners must have known she had Aids because everyone in her 'crowd' knew of her condition.

He told the court his client was forced to leave her twin seven-year-old sons with their father in Lebanon because of the risk she posed to their health.

Zarzour, who contracted Aids in Cyprus in 1993, was now in a critical state of health due to Aids-related illness, Eftichiou said.

The haggard-looking defendant, who again went into and left the court with a blanket over her head, sat silently in the dock throughout yesterday's hearing.

The court ordered that she remain under police guard at the Larnaca Aids clinic until Monday.

[07] Police investigate rape complaint

Police said the visitor complained the Paralimni man, whom she was involved with, raped her in Ayia Napa on Saturday night. The man named by the tourist was arrested on Easter Sunday but released later that same day after questioning, police said.

"She has made some claims and he has his own story. We are looking into all possibilities," a Famagusta CID officer said yesterday.

He said the alleged victim had been examined by a state pathologist.

[08] Bases deny British soldiers attacked policeman

Michalis Savva was assaulted outside a night spot at around 4.50am on Saturday while he was off-duty. The unknown attackers made off with his car which was later found burnt out near the Ayios Nicolaos British base in the free Famagusta area.

Savva allegedly heard his assailants speaking English which led police to suspect the assault might have been carried out by British soldiers.

But Bases spokesman Captain Jon Brown said squaddies were not responsible for the attack.

"We are co-operating fully with Cyprus police, and there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest British soldiers were involved in the incident," he said.

[09] Epicentre of quakes was inland

The epicentres were inland between Ayios Mamas, Zoopighi and Pelendri villages in the Limassol area. Some homes sustained light damage in the quakes between 7.32am and 8.38am, but there were no casualties.

A senior officer for the Geological Survey Department, Sotiris Krambis, said the tremors were also felt in Paphos, Larnaca, Nicosia, and Troodos.

An inland epicentre was rather unusual, Krambis said, as they tend mostly to be under the sea between Limassol and Paphos.

[10] UN wants details of Turkish Cypriot human rights charges

A TOP UN Human Rights Committee has asked Cyprus for details of allegations of discrimination against Turkish Cypriots living in the government- controlled areas.

In its latest report on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, released yesterday, the UN Human Rights Committee said it regrets, among other topics, the lack of concrete information on Turkish Cypriots.

"Considering the repeated allegations of discrimination against Cypriot citizens of Turkish origin, including issues of employment and identity cards... and requests the government of Cyprus to provide detailed information on this matter...," the report said.

It has also criticised Cyprus over what it called the persistence of inequality between men and women in law and in practice in Cyprus.

"It is concerned that discriminatory provisions on the basis of sex continue to inhibit the full enjoyment by women of their human rights, in particular in laws relating to marriage, nationality, immigration, employment and education," the report said.

The Committee urged the government to adopt legislative measures to eliminate sex-based discrimination in all relevant areas.

It is also concerned that a new law on the prevention of violence within the family "has not produced the expected positive results and urges the state party to adopt appropriate measures to improve the situation".

"A reform of the law on evidence should take into account the possibility of eliminating obstacles to a spouse providing testimony against another spouse on domestic violence," the report said.

The Committee criticised the number of laws which have not yet been changed, including specifically the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

The Council of Europe has given Cyprus until the end of May to change the antiquated laws or face censure, following a five-year delay in implementing a European Court of Human Rights decision on the issue.

The Committee is also concerned about the "discriminatory" treatment accorded to conscientious objectors in Cyprus, mainly Jehovah's Witnesses, who are subject to repeated punishment for failure to do military service. It calls for their fair treatment under the law.

Referring to allegations of police brutality, the Committee refers to the apparent reluctance of victims of violence and ill-treatment to testify, but welcomes a move to incorporate a human rights course into the training of police officers.

[11] Easter eaters suffer after food fast

Most of the casualties had ended a 50-day fast by feasting on barbecued lamb, eggs and traditional flaounes (cheese buns).

Emergency wards were bursting at the seams, with 1,000 people being treated in Nicosia general hospital alone. More than 200 of these were suffering colic or gastric symptoms associated with over-eating.

Nicosia casualty department director Dr Costas Antoniades said yesterday emergency doctors were kept "very busy" between Saturday and Monday.

"We all know Cypriots like a lot of food and they don't follow the proper guidelines on healthy nutrition," he said, stressing the harm caused by the sudden ingestion of fatty foods after a period of abstinence.

[12] Swiss banks arbitrator post for Jacovides

He is one of 16 such arbitrators appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Independent Claims Resolution Foundation.

The tribunal has been set up to adjudicate ownership claims to assets held as the result of World War II Nazi persecution.

Of the other arbitrators, five are from Switzerland, four from the US and one each from Canada and the UK.

Jacovides served twice as Cypriot ambassador to the US and Germany. He is also a former permanent representative of Cyprus to the United Nations.

[13] Greens set for Akamas showdown with UK troops

GREENS were last night preparing to face off with British troops due to begin two-day live-firing exercises in the Akamas today.

Dozens of environmentalists have been camped out on the remote western peninsula since Monday hoping to stop the exercises from going ahead.

"We are ready for anything," said an announcement by the Green Party.

The party accused the bases and the government of being underhand by announcing the exercises a mere day before they were due to start, and in the middle of the Easter holidays, "to catch people unawares".

But the exercises in the environmentally sensitive peninsula could not be prevented, the government said yesterday.

Spokesman Christos Stylianides repeated that the government was continuing its efforts to find an alternative permanent training area for British soldiers.

"While efforts are continuing to find a new site we consider it preferable not to hold live-fire exercises in the Akamas," Stylianides said. "However, despite reservations, we are complying with the Treaty of Establishment and will take all the necessary measures."

Under the 1960 Treaty which established the two British bases on the island, the British Army is allowed 70 days' training in the peninsula. It says it generally uses only 35 days.

However, following protests by greens and others in recent years it has been agreed that an alternative site should be found.

A part of the Asinou National Guard training area west of Nicosia was recently offered to the bases as a one-off alternative but the British said it was too small for live-fire training to take place safely due to the proximity of residential areas.

Government sources said yesterday that although the site was put forward by the National Guard it was found to be unsuitable.

They said that now a new National Guard Commander had been appointed there was a possibility that the Defence Ministry would agree to propose Kalochorio in the Larnaca District - the regular training ground for the Cypriot armed forces - for the bases to use periodically.

The British bases said yesterday some 80 soldiers would take part in infantry skills training in groups of 30 during the Akamas exercises. They will fire rifles and machine guns with live ammunition over the next two days.

"The weapons being used present virtually no hazard to the environment and stringent regulations will, as always, be enforced to preserve and protect the landscape," the bases said in an announcement. "All soldiers are aware of their responsibilities to the environment when training not only in Cyprus but in the UK and elsewhere. The British army's training motto for many years has been 'Think Green'."

The bases say the exercises are taking place on a remote six-square-km area of the most rugged and inaccessible part of the peninsula.

"The bases show great care for the environment and contain some of the most undeveloped, unspoilt and litter-free parts of the island," said bases spokesman Mervyn Wynne-Jones.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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