THE BEATING of two young men by police officers depicted on a video tape that shocked the nation, was a disgrace, international human rights group Amnesty International said yesterday.
Amnesty said it had written a letter to Justice Minister Doros Theodorou raising its concerns over the ill-treatment of two handcuffed and helpless suspects. Police said the two men were suspected of drug dealing.
“Amnesty International calls on the Cypriot authorities to end impunity for police ill-treatment and to ensure that all complaints of police brutality are promptly, thoroughly, impartially and independently investigated and that those responsible are duly punished,” a statement from Amnesty said.
In December last year Marcos Papageorgiou and Yiannos Nicolaou, both aged 27, were arrested and beaten by plain-clothes policemen in Nicosia. Police launched an internal investigation following the publicity surrounding the case.
However video footage captured by an unidentified witness only came to light this month. The video of the two men being beaten by the five officers from the anti-riot squad MMAD shocked the public and elicited all-round condemnation.
“It is an absolute disgrace that police officers can behave in such a violent way towards handcuffed and helpless men. The images on the video, including where officers are shown to be slamming Marcos Papageorgiou’s head onto the pavement several times while he is lying on the ground and with his hands cuffed behind his back, are appalling,” said Olga Demetriou, Amnesty International’s researcher on Cyprus.
“These images of police brutality constitute a clear violation of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment.”
Demetriou said it was clear from what has emerged in the past week that the initial internal investigation had cleared the police. This was apparent when the two men were served notices last month that the officers intended to sue them for assault, and were requesting damages.
“Amnesty International understands that these notices were authorised on the basis of the internal police investigation having been concluded and having cleared the officers involved of any wrongdoing,” Demetriou’s statement said.
Since publication of the video tape, a criminal investigation has been launched against the officers.
Demetriou said Amnesty was concerned about reports that the police officers did not let the men examine properly their identification and that the men were detained for an hour before they were allowed to phone their parents and lawyer.
The international organisation was also concerned that the internal police investigation into the case was not thorough and impartial and that the suspected officers have not yet been suspended from duty until the investigation is complete.
“This case has opened up the Pandora’s Box. After publication of the video images of the treatment of the two young men, many people reporting incidents of ill-treatment by police officers are coming forward. Many of them claim to have been threatened with counter-charges of assaulting the police if complaints were filed,” Demetriou said.
??
??
??
??
