Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Cyprus.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Cyprus. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper
resources that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** Council of Europe
anti-torture Committee announces periodic visits to eight countries in 2023 European Committee
for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment CPT, 27 July 2022 [accessed 28 July
2022] The European
Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CPT) has announced today its 2023 programme
of periodic visits. The Committee
intends to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the
following countries: Albania, Armenia,
Cyprus, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malta, North Macedonia, and the Slovak Republic. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cyprus U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/cyprus/
[accessed 8 July
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT The most recent
report of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture
(CPT), published in 2018, on the country’s prison and detention centers noted
persistent credible allegations of police mistreatment of detainees, including
allegations received in 2017 that a woman was sexually abused; that three
juvenile detainees reported officers kicked, punched, and hit them with clubs
during questioning at the Limassol Central Police Station; and that persons
detained by police, particularly foreigners, risked physical or psychological
mistreatment at the time of apprehension, during questioning, and in the
process of deportation. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS Physical Conditions:
Overcrowding remained a problem in the CPD. The prison’s capacity is 547; the
maximum number of inmates held during the year was 820. In its 2018 report,
the CPT noted that in Blocks 1, 2, 5, and 8 of the CPD, many cells did not
have toilets, and prisoners lacked reliable access to toilets at night. Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/cyprus/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 11 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE
USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? While Cyprus is
free from war and insurgencies, the Council of Europe and other groups have noted
occasional cases of police brutality, including the August 2017 beating of a
60-year-old Turkish citizen who crossed a checkpoint without showing his
visa. Overcrowding at prisons and migrant detention centers has decreased but
remains a problem. Force was sometimes used by authorities to suppress
protests at detention centers. Anti-torture
Committee publishes report on its visit to Cyprus Council of Europe -
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment CPT, 26 April 2018 www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/anti-torture-committee-publishes-report-on-its-visit-to-cyprus [accessed 27 April
2018] During its February
2017 visit to the country, the CPT received a number of credible allegations
of physical and/or psychological ill-treatment of detained persons (including
juveniles) by police officers – notably at Limassol and Paphos
Central Police Stations. The alleged ill-treatment consisted primarily of
slaps, punches and kicks to the head and to other parts of the body, but also
included verbal abuse, threats and intimidation. There were also a number of
allegations of physical, verbal and racist abuse of immigration detainees by
staff at Menoyia Detention Centre, as well as
several allegations of ill-treatment of detainees being escorted to the
airport by immigration police officers. The CPT concludes that persons
detained by the police – and in particular foreign nationals – still run a
risk of being ill-treated, notably at the moment of apprehension, during
questioning, and in the context of immigration detention and removal
operations. The Cypriot authorities need to take determined action to tackle
the problem of police ill-treatment, and promote a culture change within the
ranks of the Cypriot Police. Further, steps should be taken to ensure that
formal safeguards against ill-treatment are effectively implemented in
practice. Conclusions and
recommendations of the Committee against Torture U.N. Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment -- Doc. CAT/C/CR/29/1
(2002) www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cat/observations/cyprus2002.html [accessed 26
February 2013] C. Subjects of
concern 5. Although there
is a generally positive trend regarding the treatment of detained persons by
police, the existence of some cases of ill-treatment
require that the authorities remain vigilant. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 Irregular migrants
were detained for prolonged periods with no alternative measures being
considered. There were allegations of police ill-treatment of peaceful
activists. ENFORCED
DISAPPEARANCES
- During the course of the year, the Committee of Missing Persons in Cyprus
had exhumed the remains of 43 people, bringing the total number of
exhumations since 2006 to 857. By the end of the year the remains of 336
missing individuals (269 Greek Cypriots and 67 Turkish Cypriots) had been
identified and restored to their families. However, no perpetrator was
identified or prosecuted in either Cyprus or Turkey by the end of the year. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For current
articles:: Search Amnesty
International Website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=cyprus+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 25 December
2018] Scroll
Down ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61643.htm [accessed 22 January
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61643.htm [accessed 3 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law
prohibits such practices; however, there were reports that police abused
detainees. There continued to
be reports that police engaged in heavy‑handed tactics and degrading
treatment of suspects. In January the
court acquitted a police officer charged with raping a Moldavian woman in her
prison cell in February 2004. In July a police disciplinary committee called
for the officer's resignation, but the officer appealed the decision. The
committee ordered a new investigation, which concluded that the officer
should be demoted rather than relieved of duty. The assistant chief of police
appealed this decision, and the officer remained on suspension at year's end. In April a
naturalized citizen reported that police beat and locked him in a cell for 15
hours following a car accident in Limassol. The Limassol police chief denied
the claims, and police headquarters maintained that the claimant had attacked
the policemen and had hit an officer who had intervened in the altercation.
The police pressed charges against him, while the alleged victim filed a
complaint with the ombudsman. The Ombudsman's Office issued a report on the
incident and the deputy chief of police ordered an investigation in August.
The investigation was on going at year's end. In July an Afghani
man claimed that in 2004 police detained him and a Polish female friend and
strip-searched them. After the interrogation, the man alleged the officers
forcefully took him to his apartment and forced them to pose with two women
in sexually suggestive photographs, which were later carried in a major
newspaper. The police reported that the officers were off‑duty at the
time of the incident and that a disciplinary committee investigation was
completed in August. At year's end the committee had not decided on
disciplinary action against the officers, who remained suspended from duty. In July the
Criminal Court found a Nicosia police officer guilty of common assault after
beating a teenage suspect in custody in 2004 while off duty. He was fined
$300 (150 CYP). In August the
ombudsman sent a report to the attorney general and the minister of justice
supporting allegations made by a detainee that Limassol police mistreated him
during his 2002 detention. The initial police investigation concluded that
the complainant's claims were unfounded. However, the ombudsman's report
confirmed that the complainant suffered serious bodily injuries at the hands
of the police and recommended a second police investigation into the case.
The police ordered a second investigation in July that was still ongoing at
year's end. In September the
press reported that a Polish laborer died after being held in police custody.
These reports alleged that the man was taken to a police station after a
confrontation with his neighbors, where he experienced convulsions and
fainting spells. The police confirmed that an ambulance took the man unconscious
to the hospital where he later died. The ombudsman was investigating the
case, and police have stated that the government doctor who conducted the
post-mortem examination concluded that the cause of death was likely a pre‑existing
condition. At year's end the case was still under investigation pending
toxicological and other medical results. According to the police, the man's
roommates reported that the man regularly suffered from seizures, but they
were unaware whether he suffered from a particular illness. Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/cyprus [accessed 22 January
2013] LONG URL
ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 11 May
2020] The independent judiciary
operates according to the British tradition, upholding due process rights. In
2008 the Cyprus ombudswoman issued complaints on behalf of asylum-seekers who
were indefinitely detained in Nicosia’s prison; they launched a hunger strike
in September. Prison overcrowding has decreased but remains a problem. The
Council of Europe and other groups have noted police and prison brutality,
including targeted beatings of minorities. A bureau established in 2006 to
investigate complaints against the police reported 30 complaints in the first
five months of 2008, although most were found to be groundless. The 10
plainclothes police who were videotaped beating two men in 2005 were
acquitted of torture and causing grievous bodily harm in September 2008 but
still face other charges in an ongoing trial. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, " Torture by Police, Forced
Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st
Century- Cyprus", http://gvnet.com/torture/Cyprus.htm, [accessed
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