Launch of De-Mining – Phase 2 Guide to The

Launch of De-mining – Guide to the CMP Phase 2 THE BLUE BERET The 14 August Helios air crash in Greece, the A Brief Guide to the CMP Published monthly by the: worst in Cypriot aviation history, was also the Public Information Office worst loss of life Cyprus has experienced since United Nations Peacekeeping Force in 1974. A stunned island was plunged into sorrow Cyprus and mourning. HQ UNFICYP PO Box 21642 We in UNFICYP have all been touched. 1590 Nicosia Inevitably, we become close to the communities Cyprus we live and work with in the course of our service here. Just as we have marvelled at the Tel: 2261-4550/4416/4408 Fax: 2261-4461 closeness of the island’s family ties, we now feel E-mail: unficyp-blue-beret@un.org the sadness and pain of the shattered families blueberetcyprus@hotmail.com around us as the island struggles to cope with Website:www.unficyp.org the aftermath of this tragic event. Our Chief of Mission, SRSG Wlosowicz, has Editorial Team conveyed condolences on behalf of the Brian Kelly Secretary-General, UNFICYP and the United Anne Bursey Nations family here on the island. We have Capt. Stefan Zemanovic observed a minute of silence and flown our Miriam Taylor flags at half-mast to honour and mourn the Aldo Henríquez victims and to show our support for the Sgt. Adrián Artimovic (Photographer) bereaved. Unit Press Officers Roque Retamar, an Argentinian twice an UNFICYP peacekeeper, wrote from Latin Sector 1 Maj. Gustavo Villegas Editorial Sector 2 Lt. Bertie Swan-Ingrey America to the Cyprus Mail expressing his deepest sympathy. “I love Cyprus”, he wrote, Sector 4 MSgt. Sylvia Lojanová “and know you will overcome this tragedy with Capt. Tibor Berecz faith and resignation and with the help of God.” UNCIVPOL Sgt. Jim Flanagan The Turkish Cypriot leader Mr. Talat passed UN Flt Lt. Alfonso Naish along his community’s condolences to Mr. MFR Lt. Alex Markwick Papadopoulos. The mayor of north Nicosia FMPU Capt. Jozef Kascák placed banners at the city’s two crossing points The Blue Beret is UNFICYP’s in-house proclaiming the message “We share in your Serving UNFICYP’s civilian, military and police personnel Serving UNFICYP’s I. Historical Background journal. Views expressed are of the grief”. he problem of the missing persons in Cyprus first repatriation of the prisoners detained in Turkey took authors concerned, and do not neces- Sorrow and loss remained the theme when sarily conform with official policy. Tarose as a result of the intercommunal troubles of place in October and November 1974, under the some days later we mourned our own fallen 1963-1964. During this unstable period, several auspices of the ICRC. Articles of general interest (plus photos colleagues on the second anniversary of the hundred Turkish Cypriots disappeared and 203 cases In 1976, concluding that it could no longer be of with captions) are invited from all Baghdad bombings. Again we stood silent in our are still unaccounted for. A good number of Greek assistance on the ground, and, since there was no members of the Force. place of work, thoughts full of the fragility of life Cypriots also went missing, and some 40 cases are still further necessity for a neutral intermediary because of Copyright of all material is vested in UN and the enduring resilience of the human spirit. unaccounted for today. bicommunal ad hoc committees operating under the During the events that took place in July and auspices of the UN, the ICRC pulled its delegation out publications, but may be reproduced Indeed, we too share in your grief. with the Editor’s permission. August 1974, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish of Cyprus. Cypriots went missing. At that time, both UNFICYP and From 1975-1977, a number of intercommunal the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meetings on the problem of the missing persons were were operating in Cyprus and were also dealing with held but there was no significant progress. Between Contents the problem of the missing. During this tragic period, 1977 and 1981, negotiations took place in Nicosia, Editorial/Contents . .2 the ICRC was visiting all the detention centres in Geneva and New York for the establishment of a A Brief Guide to the Committee of Missing Persons . .3/4/5 Cyprus and Turkey. A general programme for the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP). The Kilcullen Contingent . .6/7 II. Legal Basis of the CMP and its Mechanism Launch of Second Phase of . .Buffer Zone etween 1975 and 1979 the UN General Assembly Terms of Reference of the CMP call upon the De-Mining Project . .8/9 Badopted three different resolutions on the missing Committee to look into the cases of persons reported New HIV/AIDS Focal Point/ persons in Cyprus, calling for the establishment of an missing in the inter-communal fighting as well as the investigatory body to tackle this humanitarian events of July 1974 and afterwards. The mandate of One Voice, One Staff, One UN . .10 problem. Subsequently, the GA adopted two additional the CMP is purely humanitarian. The Committee will Introducing Peacekeeping Conduct and resolutions in 1981 and 1982, respectively, welcoming not attempt to attribute responsibility for the deaths of Discipline Units/If In Doubt, Stay Out! . .11 the establishment of the CMP and urging the CMP to any missing persons or make findings as to the cause proceed without delay in carrying out its mandate. of such deaths (Article 11, CMP Terms of Reference). New Contingents arrive as UNCIVPOL The CMP was established in April 1981 by agree- The CMP is expected to use its best efforts to draw becomes UNPOL/Irish Rotation . .12 ment between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot up comprehensive lists of missing persons of both South American Medal Parade marks Tour’s End . .13 communities. It is the only institutionalised bi- communities, specifying as appropriate whether they Outside Activities/Argentinian Air Force Day . .14 communal committee in Cyprus. are dead or alive, and, in the former case, approxi- The CMP is composed of a Member appointed by mate time of death. CANCON Hands Over/Bi-cultural Theme Night . .15 each of the two communities and a Third Member, The 31 July 1997 Agreement, which has been selected by the ICRC and appointed by the Secretary- agreed upon by the two leaders in the same Front Cover: Launch of De-mining, Phase 2 General. CMP decisions are taken by consensus to the humanitarian spirit, but outside the CMP sphere, extent possible. In case of disagreement, the Third provides for the exchange of information regarding Back Cover: Guide to the CMP Member consults the other two members in an known burial sites and return of the remains of Greek attempt to bridge their views and reach a consensus. Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot missing persons. 2 August 2005 - The Blue Beret August 2005 - The Blue Beret 3 A Brief Guide to the CMP CMP Membership III. Reactivation of the CMP n 30 August 2004, after more than four years of intense bilateral negotiations carried out by the Third Elias P. Georgiades was educated in Officer at the Ministry of Labour. Oinactivity, the CMP met formally in the Ledra Member a.i. with his two Cypriot colleagues, in close Cyprus, Greece, the UK and the USA. Following the 1974 troubles, he was Palace. The Members agreed to consider how to ex- consultations with the UN and the ICRC. These He holds a BA in Political Science and a Assistant Director of the Special Ser- pand the Committee’s scope of activity and responsi- proposals merge the Terms of Reference of the CMP Certificate in International Law. He vice for the Rehabilitation of Refugees. bility, in accordance with the proposals formulated and the July 1997 Agreement, a delicate integration earned his MA and PhD in Interna- He was also a guest lecturer at the by the Secretary-General in his two letters to the which has enabled the two communities to address tional Studies at the American Uni- Mediterranean Institute of Management two leaders of December 2003 and August 2004, this issue with more efficiency and credibility. versity, Washington DC, which he of the Cyprus Productivity Centre. calling for the resumption of the work of the CMP, The new mandate of the CMP now covers com- attended on a Fulbright scholarship and In 1978, he was assigned special namely: pletion of the investigations, as envisaged in the 1981 where he also worked as a research duties at the House of Representa- a. To conclude the remaining investigative work on Terms of Reference and procedural rules, as well as assistant. He spent a year at the Uni- tives, becoming Director of the Office of both sides on the basis of an agreed, comprehen- exhumations and identification, as provided by the versity of Denver as a graduate fellow. the President of the House of Represen- sive timetable. July 1997 Agreement. Early in his career, Dr. Georgiades tatives in 1981. From May 1985 to May b. To agree on the modalities for implementation of The implementation of this new mandate is time- worked with the Cyprus office of a U.S. 1986, he served as the Government the 31 July 1997 Agreement in accordance with consuming and requires a complete reorganisation of multi-national company, and with the Spokesman. Cyprus Civil Service. He also served as Dr. Georgiades has held the post of Article 12 of the Terms of Reference of the CMP of CMP activities. Since September 2004, the Committee Greek Cypriot member – April 1981. has had weekly meetings to address this important Elias P.

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