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Thu, 08 Jun 2006
When the will does not exist, simplest issues become complicated.
One would imagine that in a place like Cyprus which is so tiny and there is no natural barrier between the two sides, there would have been a consensus about topics like the handling of criminals (alleged or convicted) by now. However, there is no such thing yet. There have been examples in the past how these exchanges ocurred behind the doors through semi-legal means like driving the persons accross the Green Line so that interpol can catch them. The following shows several things. First of all, simply the fact the person that escaped from prison in north and got caught in south is on trial on charges of abducting and rapig a person does not imply anything about his potential involvement in crimes comitted in south. Unless there is something missing the quoted report below, it is just Cypriot police ignoring "innocent until proven guilty". Not that this is suprising, specially when we are talking about sexual crimes. The trial of these people became a big farce in north already. Now, the rest about whether they could be handed back, whether evidence can be shared. That is my main point and it is a shame. It shows that there is no will to solve simple issues. Instead of governments trying to run democratic, free, prosperous administrations, they just put their feet down and argue about stubborn politics.
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Cyprus could not be left behind.
Let's see what more comes out of this. As citiizens of this island, we should be tolerant towards this type of stuff (well, we should not be tolerant about million other things too). Why should we continue to be a pawn in their hands?
Cyprus ‘colluded in CIA torture flights’ By Jean Christou ‘We were told they were technical landings’
CYPRUS is one of 20 mainly European countries that facilitated so-called CIA torture flights, a Council of Europe (CoE) report published yesterday revealed.
When the allegations were first rumoured last November, the Foreign Ministry denied any connection between the CIA rendition flights and Cyprus.
However, Sotos Zacheos the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry told the Cyprus Mail yesterday, following publication of the CoE report, that the government had no idea of what the planes were when they landed in Larnaca.
“We were never actually asked by the US [to facilitate the flights],” he said. “We were told they were all technical landings and they informed us of this from the air that there were technical reasons they had to land.”
Zacheos said it was an international obligation to facilitate the landing of any aircraft with technical problems. “We had no suspicions [about the flights],” he said, adding the government would “will issue a full and transparent statement” on the issue today.
According to the report compiled by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the CoE, Cyprus, along with Germany, Turkey and Spain, was a "staging point" for flights involving the unlawful transfer of detainees.
Ireland, Britain, Portugal, Greece and Italy were "stopovers" for flights involving the unlawful transfer of detainees, Sweden, Bosnia, Britain, the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, Germany and Turkey handed over suspects, Cairo, Amman, Islamabad, Rabat, Kabul, Guantanamo Bay, Tashkent, Algiers and Baghdad served as detainee transfer/drop-off points, and Poland and Romania ran secret detention centres
"It is now clear – although we are still far from having established the whole truth – that authorities in several European countries actively participated with the CIA in these unlawful activities," Council of Europe investigator Dick Marty said.
"Other countries ignored them knowingly, or did not want to know," he said in the conclusions of the 65-page report released on the body's website.
While the report admits it has "no formal evidence" of secret CIA detention centres, it said a number of states had clearly colluded with the system of CIA secret flights and secret transfers known as renditions.
Marty said that flight data provided in January and February from Eurocontrol helped uncover the web of flights, detention centres and stop-off points used in the US-devised system.
A staging post such as Cyprus was described as involving not just a landing or stopover but would include planning and other operational activities. The planes reportedly used by the CIA, such as the N313P, are not military jets. The N313P, a Gulfstream Turbo Jet V, belongs to the Premier Executive Transport Services, believed to be a CIA front.
When Human Rights Watch first named Cyprus last year, Foreign Minister George Iacovou said he had heard nothing about any CIA planes landing in Cyprus, only about flyover rights. He said Cyprus had no formal arrangements with the US in their ‘War on Terror’.
The involvement of Cyprus came as no surprise to MP Christos Pourgourides, rapporteur of the Council of Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. He said it was quite obvious that the government had “shut their eyes” to what was going on.
“To me it’s obvious they were fully aware of the coming and going and no one bothered to investigate,” he told the Cyprus Mail.
Pourgourides said it was typical of the government to present itself as the great patriot when it came to the US and the Cyprus issue, “but when it comes to actually standing up to the US, they never do”.
He said when he returned to Cyprus he may attempt to have the flights issue brought up for debate in parliament at the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The US embassy in Nicosia, quoting past comments from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, told the Cyprus Mail that it was the policy of the US to comply with its laws and treaty obligations.
“The War on Terrorism sometimes involves the capture, detention and questioning of terrorists. We must question them to gather significant, potentially life-saving intelligence,” said an embassy spokesman.
“Our law enforcement and intelligence co-operation has resulted in foiling a number of deadly plots against cities and citizens in Europe and elsewhere.”
The spokesman said the embassy could not confirm or deny details of intelligence activities.
“However, the US does not transport detainees from one country to another for the purpose of interrogation by torture,” the spokesman added.
“In conducting rendition, the US government complies with its international obligations and has respected and will continue to respect the sovereignty of other countries.”
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Nationalism: The IKEA Style!
I just read this hilarious column from Volkan Newspaper (a.k.a. "his master's voice" and/or "the voice of the antiquated wolves") that one columnist describes how he bumped into an IKEA store in Istanbul and realized that everything there (incorrect!) is made in Sweden. Despite his anti-communism and pro-capitalist stance that he proclaims, it hurts his "traditional" and "antique" nationalist feelings that a place like IKEA existed in Istanbul instead of the "good ol'" Turkish furniture, textile and what-not stores. He blasted the Turkish government and the present era for allowing this. Next time I go to IKEA, I will keep this in mind :) For those who may not know, IKEA is a "super-store" of cheap furniture, textiles and other home goods, it is indeed a Swedish company but just like any other "globalized", multi-national chain-store, its products are produced/assembled all over the world. It is the Wal-Mart of these products specially amongst students and middle-class in America. As far as I know, it has recently expanded enourmously in Europe including Turkey too. The latter is my poor observation.
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Human Trafficing in Cyprus
US report raps Cyprus over battle on flesh trade
By Jean Christou
COUNTRIES such as Nigeria, Chad and Rwanda are doing more to combat people trafficking than Cyprus, according to the latest US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.
The latest report has Cyprus dropping from being a Tier 2 country to being on the Tier 2 ‘watch list’, a step back from the previous year.
Tier 2 countries are those making an effort, Tier 1 countries, those who are meeting the minimum standards include most western countries.
Tier 3 are those who make no effort at all, which according to the report, include Cuba, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and the US-deemed ‘axis of evil’, Iran, North Korea and Syria.
There are 32 countries, including Cyprus on the Tier 2 ‘watch list’ this year including China, Egypt Israel and India.
“Cyprus has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List because of its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to address its serious trafficking for sexual exploitation problem,” said the report.
It said that while there were seven convictions using prostitution and sexual exploitation laws, the government failed to utilise its anti-trafficking legislation during the 2005 reporting period.
“The government did not proactively implement its National Action Plan, nor did it formally open a shelter for victims of trafficking. The government slightly decreased the number of "artiste" visas issued in 2005, but failed to fulfil its commitment to abolish this visa category,” said the report.
It added that the government should assign a clear political priority to fighting trafficking immediately. It should start prosecuting trafficking crimes. As promised in the National Action Plan, the government should significantly reduce the number of "artiste" visas and abolish this visa category to prevent further exploitation of trafficking victims in Cyprus.
It should produce and launch a national public awareness campaign to reduce demand for trafficking victims in Cyprus. The Cypriot Government should complete, proactively implement, and distribute its standardised handbook for screening and referral of victims and ensure its wide distribution to all foreign workers entering Cyprus.
It also said that in 2005, the government of Cyprus failed to sustain the anti-trafficking law enforcement momentum started in the previous year.
According to the US, the government finalised its proposed laws on trafficking but had not yet introduced them to parliament. It said that in 2005, Cypriot police arrested an increased number of traffickers. “While the government convicted seven suspects on charges related to prostitution, it was unable to confirm whether a trafficking element was involved,” the report said.
“The government of Cyprus did not demonstrate tangible progress in providing protection and assistance to victims of trafficking in 2005. It fell short of targets established by the government’s own National Action Plan. Although the government procured funding, obtained permits and signed a lease for a shelter for trafficking victims, it failed to open it during the reporting period,” the report said.
Instead the anti-trafficking unit informally referred victims to an NGO shelter in Limassol, but the government did not establish a formalised screening and referral process.
“The government’s Welfare Services provided financial aid, counselling and temporary shelter to 36 victims for up to three weeks in subsidised homes for the elderly. Although the planned 2004 standardised internal guidelines on victim identification and referral were completed and sent to all ministries for final review, they have yet to be printed or distributed.
“The government cooperated with NGOs in preparing the new immigration legislation and handbook. During the reporting period, the police identified 55 victims of trafficking, 42 of whom testified or pressed charges against their traffickers. Identified victims were offered legal alternatives to their removal and were allowed to remain in the country in order to testify. In the absence of a formal screening process, some unidentified victims continued to be at risk of deportation,” said the report.
The Government of Cyprus made some “limited progress” in implementing prevention elements of its National Action Plan in 2005. The government printed 60,000 trafficking prevention leaflets in four languages for those entering Cyprus on "artiste" visas, and began distributing these at immigration police offices and at airports.
“Although the government funded a promised demand oriented public awareness campaign, it has yet to conduct any large scale campaigns to generate public awareness about the role customers play in contributing to trafficking in Cyprus,” said the report.
The government drafted a pamphlet in Greek for all foreign workers entering Cyprus on other work visas, but has yet to print or distribute it. It issued 4,000 new "artiste" visas in 2005, a 13 per cent decrease from the previous year.
Embassy officials yesterday defended the report saying it was not politically motivated. They said the reports are mandated for Congress to see in what kind of countries American aid is being spent. The question for Cyprus was: “Is the government doing everything possible”. The answer according to the island’s placing is ‘no’. “But there is reason to believe the government wants to do the right thing,” said one embassy official.
North has no real laws against human trafficking
THE REPORT said the area administered by Turkish Cypriots was also a destination for women trafficked from Eastern and Central Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
“Reportedly, men were trafficked to work in the construction industry,” it said.
“There are continued indications that it is also used as a transit point for persons trafficked into forced labour into the EU.”
According to the report, the north does not have a law that specifically prohibits trafficking in persons and in 2005, all potential trafficking cases were tried on the charge of "living off the earnings of prostitution”.
“Persons convicted under this law can receive a maximum sentence of two years in prison. This is not commensurate with the penalties for other similar crimes in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots, such as rape,” it said.
Police arrested 25 suspects, prosecuted 16 cases and convicted nine suspects, all of whom paid minor fines.
In 2005, 1,031 “artiste visas” were issued to women working in 46 nightclubs, and as of January 2006, 378 foreign women were working in this area.
In 2005, immigration police repatriated 150 women who wished to end their nightclub contracts.
“Police corruption remained a problem; in May 2005, two police officers were questioned on suspicion of involvement in a false visa ring but no arrests were made,” the report said.
In 2006, Turkish Cypriots established an anti-trafficking hotline, but have not publicised it.
“Turkish Cypriots should take proactive steps to train law enforcement and other front-line responders on victim identification techniques, including the key difference between trafficking and smuggling and exploitation.”
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