By Athena Karsera
THE US State Department has acknowledged a “generally strong regard for human rights and democratic principals” in both the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish occupied areas, while warning that both sides still had shortcomings to overcome.
In its annual Cyprus report on Human Rights Practices for 1998, the State Department highlighted the Denktash regime’s continued ban on bi-communal activities, its restrictions on the enclaved and “pervasive police abuse of power” in the occupied areas.
It also drew attention to problems of police brutality in the government- controlled areas.
The report said the Turkish Cypriot side had eased some of the restrictions on Greek Cypriots and Maronites living in the occupied areas, although “significant problems” remained.
“The treatment of those groups still falls short of Turkish Cypriot obligations under the Vienna III agreement of 1975,” the reports said.
The State Department added that “Unficyp access to Greek Cypriots and Maronites living in north remains limited… (and) there are still no Greek- language educational facilities… beyond the elementary level,” forcing parents to send their children to the Republic to further their education, “in which case they may no longer return permanently to the north.”
According to the report, Greek Cypriots continue to complain of vandalism of unused Orthodox churches in the north “and both Greek Cypriots and Maronites living in the north are unable to change their housing at will.” Maronites also lack some public services available in most other Turkish Cypriot areas.
The report said instances of police brutality had been reported in both communities in 1998, although “in general the police forces of both sides respect the rule of law.”
It did, however, note that, on both sides, “there continue to be instances of police brutality against suspects in detention, mostly involving non- Cypriots.”
The report later referred to the filmed police beating of mostly black African illegal immigrants being held at a Larnaca detention centre.
The State Department also noted that, “while there were no public allegations of police brutality in the Turkish Cypriot community, there were credible reports of persuasive police abuse of power and routine harsh treatment of detainees.”
The report continued that “suspects are often not permitted to have their lawyers present when testimony is taken,” and that suspects who demand a lawyer are “threatened routinely with stiffer charges or even physically intimidated.”
According to the study, a high percentage of convictions in the Turkish Cypriot community “are obtained with confessions made during initial police interrogation under these conditions.”
It also stated that “police on both sides subjected members of the other community resident in their area to harassment and surveillance.”
And the report added that “members of the Turkish bar have complained that civilian judges tend to defer to their military colleagues,” during cases involving civilians deemed to have violated military zones, which are subject to trial in a military court. The court consists of one military and two civilian judges and a civilian prosecutor.
The US report noted that the December 1997 Turkish Cypriot ban on bicommunal contacts on Cyprus had halted the continuation of thousands of successful previous contacts.
“Turkish Cypriot authorities also attempted to interfere with some bicommunal events taking place outside Cyprus by prohibiting civil servants from participating.”
On social issues, the State Department study said that spousal abuse in the government-controlled areas had received greater attention in 1998.
The report said an organisation formed to address the problem of domestic abuse had reported 689 cases until November 1998, compared with 922 cases in 1997 and that a shelter for battered women had been opened in late 1998.
The report noted that their was little public discussion of domestic violence in the Turkish Cypriot community, although such violence was believed to be common. It added that a women’s shelter had been opened there in 1994.
Changes in social legislation were also reported: “Greek Cypriot women married to foreign husbands were for the first time given the right to transmit citizenship to their children automatically.” Before the December 1998 legislation, the women were required to apply for Cypriot citizenship for their children.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot women were last year for the first time legally allowed to marry non-Muslim men.
The report said that disabled people did not appear to be discriminated against in education or the provision of state services on either side.
Reporting on the labour front, trade unions on both sides “freely and regularly take stands on issues that affect workers,” according to the report.
On the economy, the report said the Republic had “a robust, service- oriented economy, with a declining manufacturing base and a small agricultural sector.” The report noted that tourism and trade generated 22 per cent of the gross domestic profit in 1998 and employed 27 per cent of the labour force.
In contrast, the Turkish Cypriot economy, “handicapped significantly by an economic embargo by the Greek Cypriots”, relies on subsidies from Turkey while being burdened by “an overly large public sector.”
