Significant human rights issues, deportations of asylum seekers and serious acts of government “corruption” are reported in the US Department of State's 2021 Human Rights Report on Cyprus. members of the “security forces”. The US Secretary of State makes strict recommendations, both in the free and in the occupied part.
According to the report, important human rights issues include credible reports of substantial interference with the freedom of association of non-governmental organizations, deportation and ill-treatment of asylum seekers, including prolonged detention and arbitrary detention, crimes involving violence or threats of violence against members of national and ethnic minority groups.
With regard to torture and other degrading treatment or punishment, the report notes that the constitution and law prohibit such practices. However, he says, there have been reports that the police have from time to time resorted to abusive tactics and derogatory treatment, in some cases to enforce measures taken by the Government to limit the spread of COVID-19. According to press reports and non-governmental organizations, he continues, “members of ethnic and racial minorities were more likely to be treated like this.”
At the same time, the State Department report notes that the Office of the Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights has not received any reports of ill-treatment or degrading treatment, including verbal, physical or sexual abuse, by detainees in detention centers and detention centers in Cyprus. The Commissioner noted a continuous improvement in the overall treatment of prisoners and detainees in prisons and detention centers.
As in previous years, some prisons and detention centers, including detention centers for asylum seekers and deported migrants, were overcrowded. The capacity of the Prison Department is 543, however the maximum number of detainees during the year was 793, it is noted.
The NGO Cyprus Refugee Council and CARITAS reported satisfactory living conditions at the immigration detention center in Menogeia. In contrast to previous years, the NGO Movement for Equality, Support, Anti-Racism (KISA) was unable to visit the center of Mennogia because the Ministry of Interior deleted KISA in December 2020.
As for the Pournara reception center, he says the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has described it as a “de facto detention center” for asylum seekers. Pournara was designed to accommodate new arrivals for 72 hours, while they undergo medical examinations, safety and vulnerability tests before being relocated to more permanent housing, it said. The influx of 20-30 new asylum seekers daily in January, combined with the de facto Minister's no-exit policy “which was allegedly enacted to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, was not legal “, caused the population of the center to triple by mid-November 2020, according to the Human Rights Report.
Citing the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the report states that 1,503 migrants have been staying at the center since January 13, far exceeding the center's maximum capacity of about 1,000. About 630 migrants were housed in the main camp and the rest in quarantine areas with floorless tents.
Referring to deportations, the report notes that media, NGOs and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that “authorities continued to repel boats carrying illegal immigrants, including potential asylum seekers”.
“From January to August, the authorities repelled a total of five boats carrying Syrian nationals to Lebanon. On May 16, authorities repelled a boat carrying 56 people in Lebanon. On June 25, they repulsed a boat with 58 people and on July 25, they repelled a boat with 85 people, while the Maritime Police stopped two boats carrying illegal immigrants on August 22. “Contacts from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and NGOs indicate that both vessels departed from Lebanon and that all those on board were Syrian nationals.” “> On the issue of corruption and lack of transparency in the Government, it is stated that the law provides for criminal sanctions for corruption by officials and that the Government in general has effectively enforced the law.
There have been, he says, many reports of corruption within the Government during the year. At this point, he refers to the resignation of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Dimitris Syllouris and Member of Parliament Christakis Tziovanis, after the show of the al-Jazeera network in October 2020 entitled & # 8220; The Cyprus Papers & # 8211; Undercover & # 8221 ;, in which, as he notes, journalists recorded extensive evidence of corruption related to the passport investment investment program.
The report emphasizes that the Government of the Republic of Cyprus is the only internationally recognized government on the island, but since 1974 the northern part of Cyprus has been ruled by the Turkish Cypriots. The State Department report notes that it does not recognize the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” as it does not recognize any country other than Turkey. “A significant number of Turkish troops remain on the island,” he said, adding that a dead zone or “Green Line” guarded by a UN peacekeeping force separates the two sides, he said. in the “elections” in the occupied territories and the rise to power of the new Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who, as he writes, is widely considered to be influenced by Turkish interventions.
“Police” and “Turkish Cypriot security forces” state that “they are under the operational command of the Turkish Armed Forces, as provided by the & # 8220; constitution & # 8221 ;, which entrusts responsibility for public security and defense to Turkey” . The Turkish Cypriot “authorities” maintained effective control of the security forces, although there were credible reports that members of the security forces had abused violence, he added.
In recent years, “there have been reports of arrests and deportations in Turkey of individuals allegedly linked to Fethullah Gulen and his movement.”
Source: KYPE
