CoE Official to EuroFora : "Major Impact" by findings on Turkey's Greek Cypriot Prisoners' killing

    In a 1st European reaction to this week's revelations that 5 Greek Cypriot disarmed, helpless Prisoners of Turkey's Army were murdered in cold-blood, and that a Family was massacrated in Occupied Lapithos village, including a Mother and 2 handicaped Children, an experienced, key CoE Senior Official, said to "EuroFora" that findings may have a "Major Impact" on ECHR judgements' execution.    Developments "depend" also on actions that could be taken by Cyprus MISSING People's Families themselves and/or other Human Rights' NGOs to address the CoE, he added. This meets a growing frustration of Victims' Families, who called "EuroFora" in Strasbourg to express their "pain" provoked by the recent scandalous findings, but also Authorities' pressure to restrict public action on Turkey's crimes, on pretext to keep a "positive atmosphere" for Peace talks and for the ..opening of a ..road at the "Green Line" in ...2010 (!), even if, in other countries, Reconciliation was obtained also by measures against Crimes of the Past to ensure that this will never happen again in the Future.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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      - "On that issue, of course, these findings may have a very major impact, one or another, (in order) to think that, yes, we do have, on enough cases, enough Evidence to start now the examination of the question of Responsibility" of Turkey by CoE's Committee of Ministers, possibly from its September 15-16 Human Rights meeting in Strasbourg, CoE's Official stressed.

    - Until now, CoE Ministers' "general philosophy, so far, has been a "2-stages Rocket" : That is, first, push for exhumations to ensure that this program works, plus ensuring that the CMP (an UNO-sponsored organ) is well aware of the importance of not destroying Evidence, but of keeping very good records of everything, about the ways of finding photographs or other material which may subsequently be important when you have to start to look at the question of Responsibility, which is not part of the CMP work", he noted on the 2007-2009 period.
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- Germany + Argentina condemned this week Criminals 65 + 33 years after the events. Why not Turkey ?
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    CoE's Official said that the same week that War Criminal ex-NAZI Army Officer Scheungraber, was condemned in Germany for crimes committed ..65 Years ago ! Sheungraber, after being initially condemned "in absentia" by an Italian Court, for the killing of 11 civilians in Italy during the 2nd World War, which passed its sentence over to 'German Authorities, was now personally judged and definitively condemned also by a German Court at Munich.

    On Thursday, it's ex-General Omar Riveros who was condemned in Argentina for torturing to death a politician's Child, aged 15, who had gone "MISSING" back in 1976.  Several such trials for "Crimes against Humanity" committed during the 1970ies, close to Turkey's military invasion of Cyprus, were made possible after Argentina decided to open Army Archives for investigations on the fate of MISSING people, who disappeared during a so-called "Dirty War" of the 1970ies.
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    That's why CoE's latest decision on Cyprus' MISSING people, taken on June 2009 in Strasbourg, also "reiterated ... the urgency for the Turkish authorities to take concrete measures, having in mind the Effective Investigations required by the Judgment" of the ECHR on the landmark "Cyprus v. Turkey" affair, which, according to ECHR's well established case law asks for Investigations to extend on what really happened to those who "disappeared", and on finding and punishing those responsible.

    - "Now, how exactly this 2-stage rocket should work, if the CMP should be allowed to finish its work before the responsibility questions are evoked, is a Question under Discussion", the CoE Official observed.

    He was replying to a "Eurofora"'s question on Risks for Evidence of Turkish Crimes to be destroyed if Exhumations and re-burrials continue and accelerate without any Forensic Examination on the spot, nor full investigations, because of CMP's notorious limitation to "identification" of victims only.

    This risk to destroy evidence of crimes was earlier denounced by statements to "EuroFora" both by a CoE Official and by "Amnesty International"s program Director, Claudio Cordone, who represented the famous Human Rights' INGO at CoE's bi-annual debate on the "situation of Human Rights in Europe" recently in Strasbourg :

    - "About Impunity : Do you think, according to your experience, that it might be ...dangerous, to limit investigations only to Exhumations and identifications, without doing any Forensic Investigation, and afterwards ...have reburrials of the remains ? Does this ...risk to erase material Proof ? Or, is there a technical, efficient way to preserve it, even without a Forensic Examination ?", we asked the experienced INGO Expert.

    AI's Claudio Cordone's reply was clearly "No !":  - "In order to know what happened, if ...there are some remains of people killed by someone, it doesn't make sense to try only to do a Partial thing. Because it's not just by digging out a body that you'll find things. YOU NEED A FORENSIC EXAMINATION, you need to have the History, to have Witnesses, Relatives, and so on", he stressed. "So, unless you can bring all these things together, it's probably better not to disturb things. Most recently, it happened in (similar cases) : Some mass graves were found, and bodies were digged out, and later taken away, and EVIDENCE GETS LOST. Then, it's more difficult when it comes to establish what happened", he warned. "Based on the Experience of  Balkans and other places, (i.e. Rwanda, etc) it's a Comprehensive approach to establish what happened, to people that have been killed. And, unless you can do it properly, it might be better that you don't disturb", he concluded.

    This may explain why Ankara's Ambassador had recently asked CoE to practically "freeze" for .. "2 Years" Turkey's obligation to make full investigations on what really happened to Cyprus' MISSING persons and who was responsible, with the obvious risk to loose or destroy evidence...

    Exceptionally, in POW's and Lapithos' rare cases,  no investigation was needed in order to prove that a Crime was committed by Turkish State Agents :  Unlike most cases of MISSING People, where the proof of probable Crimes committed by Turkey's Army has yet to be found, on the contrary, in these cases, information and Photos obtained earlier in exceptional circonstances had already proved that the 5 G/C soldiers had been taken alive as prisoners of Ankara's invasion troops, while it's well known that killing POWs is a War Crime.

    In consequence, after this week's discovery, that Turkey's Army was killing in cold-blood even helpless Prisoners, it becomes more obvious than ever that in the vast majority of the other 1.600 cases of Greek Cypriot MISSING persons, (where such "Photos" don't exist), the mere return of some bones, without any efficient investigation on what really happened to the victims, is not at all enough in order to find the Truth....

    It's at this crucial point that Cyprus' MISSING People Families' request for Ankara to "open the Archives of the Turkish Army", as a step towards long-due "effective Investigations", becomes more important and urgent than ever, (while CMP's exhumations accelerate, without any forensic examination).

    - "These allegations, I'm not sure that they have been brought so straightforwadly before the (CoE's) Committee (of Ministers), and that's a question for the actions of the differend Governments", astonishingly told us the experienced CoE Senior Official.

    - "But, then, you see, according to the Rules of the Committe, NGOs and National Human Rights Institutions may also address the CM with claims and observations... It's in the Rules since 2006", he pointed out.

     -  "And I think that, what will happen, now, on this issue, will very much depend on the position taken by other States, but possibly also by NGOs and others who may also address the Committee of Ministers and put the case that you suggest", CoE's Senior Official told us.

    - "That and other issues (?) could be better elucidated if we (CoE) had better input from NGOs. But, they have been rather absent so far, leaving the Cypriot Government rather much on its own in this case", the experienced CoE Official regretted...- "It's a bit surprising that NGOs haven't shown more interest in this" (Cyprus' MISSING people's drama), he observed.

- But "I don't have much comment to add" on that, since "I think that the most things you said yourself earlier", he concluded, referring to our observations against Risks to destroy Evidence of Crimes, and for Investigation's access to Turkey's Military and Prisons' Archives (See supra).
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    Pressure on Ankara to stop denying access to its Archives to find what happened to MISSING persons, as well as to search and punish those responsible, should logically grow on September in Strasbourg, when CoE's Committee of Ministers will review decisions and promises made on June, particularly after this week's revelations.

    On June, CoE's Ministerial Committee, while "reiterating .. the urgency for the Turkish Authorities to take concrete measures" for "effective Investigations required by the Judgement" of the ECHR on Greek Cypriot MISSING people, "noted with interest" a "Declaration of the Turkish Authorities that they are ready to consider any request ... relating to access to information".

    But Turkey's promise, (apparently done to give the impression that it will stop obstructing ECHR judgement's implementation), was restricted only to the controversial "CMP", and only for "information and places relevant for its work", which is notoriously limited merely into identifying dead, without searching to find what happened to them and who was responsible.

    All this points anew at NGO's and MISSING persons' Families' possible actions to overcome CMP's limits and raise Ankara's responsibilities, as the key CoE's Senior Official told us (See supra)
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* Families of "MISSING" persons to "Eurofora"  : Eager to act, but frustrated by obstacles : - "They tied our hands, while we feel a great pain !"
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     - "We are glad to hear that", reacted relatives of Cyprus' MISSING persons, who called  "EuroFora" in Strasbourg to learn about CoE's calls on Turkey and ECHR's case-law for full investigations to discover what really happened to MISSING persons, find and punish those responsible.
    
    - "Those who are Guilty must be found and punished !", stressed Androula Aristodemou, a relative of MISSING persons. "Let's hope. Let God inspire those who are in charge".

     >>> - "We have Testimonies and Photos that even whole Families were taken alive, as prisoners, but we didn't yet find anyone alive until now. We have those Women kidnapped from their Homes by the Turks, some 30 Children aged less than 16 taken by the Turks, we have testimonies of Babies taken from their Mothers, etc. What happened to these children ?", she wondered, particularly in the worrying new light shed by this week's tragic revelations.

    - "I have a Room plenty of such and other Photographs from MISSING people", she told us.

     - "Pain" felt from scandalously tragic revelations of Turkey's Crimes, but also from heavy restrictions and pressure from Authorities in Cyprus, who reportedly oppose MISSING persons Families' thirst for action to expose Turkey in public, was denounced by themselves to "Eurofora" in Strasbourg, after contacting us by phone, at their own spontaneous initiative, shortly after the revelations were made known :

    - "I find that in Cyprus they have trampled underfoot our Human Rights !", denounced with bitterness Aristodemou, a relative of MISSING persons, who called us together with Mrs Yanoula Leonti, who lost her husband and that we met earlier in Strasbourg during a landmark ECHR Hearing, on Autumn 2008;

     - "We saw that Turks even killed a Family in Lapithos, at Kyrenia, entered in a Home and killed in cold-blood both Parents and the Children (mentally handicaped) in their beds, helpless, without anyone to defend them. And on 4 Young men, soldiers that we hoped until now to find alive, because we had Photographs showing that they had been taken Prisoners alive, but we found out that they had been atrociously murdered in cold-blood, unarmed, after being taken as prisoners'  

- "With great Sorrow, for many days I didn't sleep. These things provoke great concern (among MISSING persons' Families) - "I was ready to go on a Hunger strike, but they (the Authorities
in Cyprus ) told us not to disrupt the "atmosphere" of (intercommunal) Talks"...
                                                                                
-  "And it hurts us a lot (it's great pain) to tie our hands (by Cyprus' Authorities), and not let us free to revendicate what we want". - "Turkey committed those Crimes. Why is it a shame to make it known, since it dit that ?", she wondered.

- "We said to go (to demonstrate) in front of (foreign) Embassies". "But they told us to keep quiet, "not to provoke" the Turks, etc. Because they try to open a road from Limnitis" (next ...April 2010 !)..

- "They have our hands tied, while we feel a great Pain" !

- "That's why I took the initiative to call you, so that you can know what is going on in Cyprus", she concluded.
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 * INGOs to "Eurofora" : Real RECONCILIATION starts when Impunity on Crimes of the Past ends...

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- However, "Fighting against Impunity, is not merely an issue of "knowing" only "the Past History", on "what really happened, etc", but it's also an issue concerning the Future", and how to build Reconciliation on solid basis, stressed earlier in Strasbourg International Human Rights' NGOs :

     - "The best prevention of Future Crimes is to punish those who were committed in the Past. On the contrary, nothing is more Dangerous for the Future than Criminals who remain unpunished, despite grave Torture, Killings and Destructions of their Victims' belongings ", replied to an "EuroFora"'s question, earlier at the CoE, Mrs Holly Cartner, Director for Europe and Central Asia of "Human Rights Watch".

    On the contrary, there where there aren't legitimate fears, claims or investigations for Crimes, as f.ex. at Malbrok village, Germans and Polish are organizing on Friday a "Remembrance" and "Dignity" re-burrial of some 2.000 bodies accidentaly found at a 2nd World War Mass Grave 66 Years after the events.

    Thought to be mostly German civilians mainly dead by hunger, diseases and/or bombardments at the end of 2WW, "less than 1% have Bullet wounds".

    On the contrary, the 5 Greek Cypriot POWs reportedly have Bullets in their skulls...

    - "The Fight against Impunity of Perpetrators of Serious Human Rights Violations, as a Priority for the CoE, and all National and International law-enforcement bodies", is supported by a recent Resolution of CoE's Parliamentary Assembly adopted at the end of June 2009 in Strasbourg.

    -  "Impunity must be eradicated, both as a manner of Individual Justice, and as a Deterrent with respect to Future Human Rights Violations", CoE's Resolution points out.  
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    - "Our appeal to the authorities... has had absolutely no effect. ...The perpetrators of these crimes must be identified and brought to justice.....impunity ....must be brought to an end. The authorities' credibility and responsibility are at stake", stressed CoE Assembly's leaders this week in Strasbourg.

They were speaking about an appeal dating only from "last MONTH" (i.e. June), upon Russia, where various killings of journalists, NGO activists, policemen, ministers, presidents and even of woman judges occured at Northern Caucasus, an area notoriously suffering also from an oil-gas routes' competition between Russia and Turkey.

But nothing was said yet on Turkey's failure to respond to CoE's "appeals" on G/C MISSING persons for more than ..35 YEARS !

As International NGO "Human Rights Watch"'s Director on Europe and Central Asia, Mrs Holly Carlton, observed, in reply to an "EuroFora" Question recently in Strasbourg, "...my understanding is that the CoE....is being clearly more forceful on Chechnya ...(against Russia) than .. on Turkey" !...
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* Turkey's continuing failure to comply with ECHR's case-law on  Cyprus' MISSING persons lasted too long, for victims' families...  
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- "I have been struggling", on the MISSING people "Humanitarian drama", for "35 Years", 1974-2009, told us Aristodemou.

 - "Something must be done" at last now, she added on a reference to Turkey's controversial 1999-2009 EU bid.

- "Because MISSING People's Mothers, one after the other, are leaving this life with the sorrow of not seing their sons. When MISSING persons' Mothers die, they are burried with their hands holding a Photograph of their beloved Child".

-  "A Greek Mother from Nikaia, who died, left us a photograph, with her last words for her son :  - "If you see him, tell him that my Heart didn't stand waiting for him", and she died. I almost "adopted" her son as mine, because he didn't have a father nor brothers or sisters alive", the Cypriot relative of MISSING people told us.