Bicommunal committee on crime builds bridges for the future

The Technical Committee on crime is taking practical steps “to build trust and bridges” between the two communities, its Greek Cypriot chairman and University of Cyprus law department professor Andros Kapardis told CNA.

Kapardis said the UN SG’ s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide had a meeting with the Committee this week to be briefed on the way it was operating.
Asked how active the committee was, he said that since 2009 it had been operating a bi-communal contact office in the UN-controlled buffer zone which is staffed by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
The office, he explained, deals with matters relating to the committee’s remit and humanitarian matters, such as stolen property which is smuggled from one side of the buffer zone to the other. When stolen items of property are found they are returned to their owners, he said.

The office is also called upon to deal with more difficult incidents such as cases involving family disputes between parents, one of whom may take a child to the other side of the divide without the express permission of the other.
At the same time, he added, the committee organises seminars on crime prevention in an effort to bring together NGOs from both communities covering the prevention of family violence, road safety, teenage crime, addictive substances and money laundering.
A seminar on the prevention of corruption will be next on the list while there are also discussions on a seminar on the challenges of policing in a federal systems with the participation of experts from abroad.
“Our goal is to build something new with solid foundations,” he said.
Kapardis said there was very good cooperation between the members of the committee, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. “We are aware of all the political sensitivities,” he said, adding that “our work is at a lower, practical level, in order to build trust and bridges.” (CNA)

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.