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COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF CYPRUS
05 August 1998
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MORNING
HR/CERD/98/37
5 August 1998
Experts Discuss Short Notice Agenda Items
The Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of the report of Cyprus after hearing a Cypriot Government delegation say that the Turkish occupation forces pursued a conscious and systematic policy to keep the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities apart.
The remark came as the Committee heard the response of the Cypriot delegation to questions raised by experts on the report of that country on the implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Petros Eftychiou, Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations Office at Geneva, told the Committee that Turkey had always scorned third party proposals for rapprochement between the two communities.
Committee expert Yuri Rechetov, who served as country rapporteur for the report, said that the Government of Cyprus could not provide the Committee with a full report on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in the whole island because of the present situation.
The Committee will issue its formal, written recommendations on the report towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes 21 August. The following Committee experts participated in this morning’s debate: Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Ivan Garvalov, Theodor van Boven, Régis de Gouttes, Michael Parker Banton, Agha Shahi, Deci Zou, and Michel E. Sherifis.
As one of 150 States parties to the Convention, Cyprus must submit periodic summaries on the efforts of the Government to implement the provisions of the treaty.
Also this morning, the Committee discussed short notice agenda items which included the form of concluding observations. Committee experts said that the structure of the concluding observations should be changed and simplified. The Committee also heard a proposal by one of its experts to discuss the introduction of a new law by Australia to reduce the land title rights of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, which he claimed was a breach of the Convention. The expert also suggested the Committee take up the situation in Chiapas, Mexico, under the urgent procedure mechanism.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will continue to consider issues under short notice agenda items.
Discussion of Report
PETROS EFTYCHIOU, Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations Office at Geneva, responding to numerous questions raised by Committee experts during yesterday afternoon's meeting, said that the Turkish occupying power was working against the rapprochement of the two Cypriot communities.
Turkey was responsible for keeping the two communities apart and for denying Cypriots the enjoyment of all their rights, including the right to their property which was recently the subject of a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, the delegate said.
The division of Cyprus had created difficulties for the Government to conduct a full survey of the various ethnic groups so as to establish a demographic breakdown, Mr. Eftychiou said. He said the total number of the population under the effective control of the Government was 581,300 persons. The official languages of the country were Greek and Turkish. Nearly all Greek Cypriots were Orthodox Christians while Turkish Cypriots and members of Armenian, Maronite and Latin minorities adhered to their own religious denominations.
Mr. Eftychiou said that the Republic's competent authorities were forcefully prevented by the Turkish army from undertaking any census or other relevant data collection. Turkey had invaded 37 per cent of Cyprus in 1974 and had continued its occupation. The demographic information pertaining to the occupied area had to be based on estimations.
Moreover, the delegate said that a large number of Turkish citizens had been settled in the occupied area of Cyprus while at the same time large numbers of Turkish Cypriots were immigrating primarily to the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. He noted they were not moving to Turkey.
With regards to complaints from foreign housemaids to the Ombudsman, the delegate said that the courts had dealt with recourse on matters of citizenship, refusal of entry and expulsion. However, the Government did not consider such cases to pertain to racial discrimination. The housemaids included persons from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Greece.
The visit of the Turkish President and his Prime Minister to the occupied area of Cyprus was illegal, Mr. Eftychiou said, adding that the visit could be interpreted as another step by Turkey to further entrench itself in the occupied area and to make it another province of Turkey.
The new bill on refugees contained provisions for granting of political asylum to refugees without discriminating in any way on the basis of their ethnic origin, the delegate said. The bill was to set the parameters for granting political asylum, thus eliminating the possibility of discrimination, he added.
YURI A. RECHETOV, the expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Cyprus, said in his preliminary concluding remarks that it was regrettable that people of different racial origins lived over many years together and suddenly found themselves divided. He expressed dissatisfaction over the situation in Cyprus where people were divided. He said the Government could not provide the Committee with a full report on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in the whole island because of the situation.
HR/CERD/98/37
5 August 1998
Experts Discuss Short Notice Agenda Items
The Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of the report of Cyprus after hearing a Cypriot Government delegation say that the Turkish occupation forces pursued a conscious and systematic policy to keep the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities apart.
The remark came as the Committee heard the response of the Cypriot delegation to questions raised by experts on the report of that country on the implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Petros Eftychiou, Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations Office at Geneva, told the Committee that Turkey had always scorned third party proposals for rapprochement between the two communities.
Committee expert Yuri Rechetov, who served as country rapporteur for the report, said that the Government of Cyprus could not provide the Committee with a full report on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in the whole island because of the present situation.
The Committee will issue its formal, written recommendations on the report towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes 21 August. The following Committee experts participated in this morning’s debate: Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Ivan Garvalov, Theodor van Boven, Régis de Gouttes, Michael Parker Banton, Agha Shahi, Deci Zou, and Michel E. Sherifis.
As one of 150 States parties to the Convention, Cyprus must submit periodic summaries on the efforts of the Government to implement the provisions of the treaty.
Also this morning, the Committee discussed short notice agenda items which included the form of concluding observations. Committee experts said that the structure of the concluding observations should be changed and simplified. The Committee also heard a proposal by one of its experts to discuss the introduction of a new law by Australia to reduce the land title rights of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, which he claimed was a breach of the Convention. The expert also suggested the Committee take up the situation in Chiapas, Mexico, under the urgent procedure mechanism.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will continue to consider issues under short notice agenda items.
Discussion of Report
PETROS EFTYCHIOU, Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations Office at Geneva, responding to numerous questions raised by Committee experts during yesterday afternoon's meeting, said that the Turkish occupying power was working against the rapprochement of the two Cypriot communities.
Turkey was responsible for keeping the two communities apart and for denying Cypriots the enjoyment of all their rights, including the right to their property which was recently the subject of a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, the delegate said.
The division of Cyprus had created difficulties for the Government to conduct a full survey of the various ethnic groups so as to establish a demographic breakdown, Mr. Eftychiou said. He said the total number of the population under the effective control of the Government was 581,300 persons. The official languages of the country were Greek and Turkish. Nearly all Greek Cypriots were Orthodox Christians while Turkish Cypriots and members of Armenian, Maronite and Latin minorities adhered to their own religious denominations.
Mr. Eftychiou said that the Republic's competent authorities were forcefully prevented by the Turkish army from undertaking any census or other relevant data collection. Turkey had invaded 37 per cent of Cyprus in 1974 and had continued its occupation. The demographic information pertaining to the occupied area had to be based on estimations.
Moreover, the delegate said that a large number of Turkish citizens had been settled in the occupied area of Cyprus while at the same time large numbers of Turkish Cypriots were immigrating primarily to the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. He noted they were not moving to Turkey.
With regards to complaints from foreign housemaids to the Ombudsman, the delegate said that the courts had dealt with recourse on matters of citizenship, refusal of entry and expulsion. However, the Government did not consider such cases to pertain to racial discrimination. The housemaids included persons from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Greece.
The visit of the Turkish President and his Prime Minister to the occupied area of Cyprus was illegal, Mr. Eftychiou said, adding that the visit could be interpreted as another step by Turkey to further entrench itself in the occupied area and to make it another province of Turkey.
The new bill on refugees contained provisions for granting of political asylum to refugees without discriminating in any way on the basis of their ethnic origin, the delegate said. The bill was to set the parameters for granting political asylum, thus eliminating the possibility of discrimination, he added.
YURI A. RECHETOV, the expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Cyprus, said in his preliminary concluding remarks that it was regrettable that people of different racial origins lived over many years together and suddenly found themselves divided. He expressed dissatisfaction over the situation in Cyprus where people were divided. He said the Government could not provide the Committee with a full report on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in the whole island because of the situation.