CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;GRANDCHAMBER;ENG — 18 septembre 2009

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clear:both } .s34DFC730 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s6477A72F { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:6pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify } .s5B366099 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; letter-spacing:-0.1pt } .s79054190 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic; letter-spacing:-0.1pt } .s7BE5FA7D { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:center; font-size:14pt } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s85226119 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:10pt } .s3133A7C8 { font-family:Arial; color:#0069d6 } .s74DD8131 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:7.1pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-7.1pt; text-align:justify; font-size:10pt }     GRAND CHAMBER             CASE OF VARNAVA AND OTHERS v. TURKEY   (Applications nos. 16064/90, 16065/90, 16066/90, 16068/90, 16069/90, 16070/90, 16071/90, 16072/90 and 16073/90)                     JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   18 September 2009       In the case of Varnava and Others v. Turkey, The European Court of Human Rights, sitting as a Grand Chamber composed of:   Jean-Paul Costa, President ,   Françoise Tulkens,   Josep Casadevall,   Anatoly Kovler,   Vladimiro Zagrebelsky,   Lech Garlicki,   Dean Spielmann,   Sverre Erik Jebens,   Ineta Ziemele,   Mark Villiger,   Päivi Hirvelä,   Luis López Guerra,   Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska,   Nona Tsotsoria,   Ann Power,   Zdravka Kalaydjieva, judges ,   Gönül Erönen, ad hoc judge , and Erik Fribergh, Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 19 November 2008 and on 8 July 2009, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the last-mentioned date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in nine applications (nos. 16064/90, 16065/90, 16066/90, 16068/90, 16069/90, 16070/90, 16071/90, 16072/90 and 16073/90) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) under former Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by eighteen Cypriot nationals, Andreas and Giorghoulla Varnava (no. 16064/90), Andreas and Loizos Loizides [1] (no.   16065/90), Philippos Constantinou and Demetris K. Peyiotis (no.   16066/90), Demetris Theocharides and Elli Theocharidou [2] (no.   16068/90), Panicos and Chrysoula Charalambous (no. 16069/90), Eleftherios and Christos Thoma [3] (no. 16070/90), Savvas and Androula Hadjipanteli (no. 16071/90), Savvas and Georghios Apostolides [4] (no.   16072/90) and Leontis Demetriou and Yianoulla Leonti Sarma (no.   16073/90), on 25 January 1990. Each of the nine applications contained authorities signed by the second applicants in their own names and on behalf of their nine missing relatives named as the first applicants. 2.     The applicants were represented by Mr A. Demetriades and Dr   K. Chrystomides respectively, lawyers practising in Nicosia. The Turkish Government (“the respondent Government”) were represented by their Agent. 3.     The applicants alleged that the first applicants in the above applications had disappeared after being detained by Turkish military forces from 1974 and that the Turkish authorities had not accounted for them since. They relied on Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13 and 14 of the Convention. 4.     The applications were joined by the Commission on 2 July 1991 and declared admissible on 14 April 1998. They were transmitted to the Court on 1 November 1999 in accordance with Article 5 § 3, second sentence, of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention, the Commission not having completed its examination of the case by that date. 5.     The applications were allocated to the Fourth Section of the Court (Rule   52 § 1 of the Rules of Court). Within that Section, the Chamber that would consider the case (Article 27 § 1 of the Convention) was constituted as provided in Rule 26 § 1. Mr Türmen, the judge elected in respect of Turkey, withdrew from sitting in the case (Rule 28). The respondent Government accordingly appointed Ms G. Erönen to sit as an ad hoc judge in his place (Article 27 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 29 § 1). 6.     The applicants and the respondent Government each filed observations on the merits (Rule 59 § 1). 7.     On 17 February 2000 the Cypriot Government informed the Court that they wished to participate in the proceedings. They submitted observations on the merits (Rule 59 § 1). 8.     On 1 November 2003 the Court changed the composition of its Sections (Rule 25 § 1). This case was assigned to the newly composed Third Section (Rule 52 § 1). 9.     On 17 February 2005, the applicants’ representative informed the Court that the second applicant, Christos Thoma, father of the first applicant in application no. 16070/90, had died on 12 April 1997 and enclosed letters of authority from his wife, Chrystalleni Thoma, and his daughter, Maria Chrystalleni Thoma, who stated their intention of continuing the application. 10.     On 13 November 2006, the applicants’ representative informed the Court that the second applicant, Elli Theocharidou, mother of the first-named applicant in application no. 16068/90, had died on 1 April 2005 and that the latter’s heirs (Ourania Symeou, Kaiti Constantinou, Yiannoulla Kari, Eleni Papayianni, Andreas G. Theocharides, Dimitris G. Theocharides and Marios G. Theocharides) wished to continue the application. On the same date, it was communicated that the second applicant, Georghios Apostolides, father of the first applicant in application no. 16072/90 had died on 14 April 1998 and that the latter’s heirs (Panayiota Chrysou, Chrystalla Antoniadou, Aggela Georgiou, Avgi Nicolaou and Kostas Apostolides) intended to continue the application. 11.     On 11 January 2007, the applicants’ representative informed the Court that the second applicant, Loizos Loizides, father of the first-named applicant in application no. 16065/90 had died on 14 September 2001 and that his granddaughter, Athina Hava, intended to continue with the application on behalf of all the heirs of the deceased (Markos Loizou, Despo Demetriou, Anna-Maria Loizou, Elena Loizidou and Loizos Loizides). 12.     The Chamber decided, after consulting the parties, that no hearing on the merits was required (Rule 59 § 3 in fine ). It found that the heirs of the deceased applicants had the requisite interest and standing to continue the applications. In its judgment of 10 January 2008 (“the Chamber judgment”), the Chamber held unanimously that there had been violations of Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention and that no separate issues arose under Articles 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13 and 14 of the Convention. It also held that the finding of a violation constituted in itself sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicants. 13.     On 28 March 2008 the respondent Government requested that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber (Article 43 of the Convention). 14.     On 7 July 2008 a panel of the Grand Chamber decided to accept the request for a referral (Rule 73). 15.     The composition of the Grand Chamber was determined according to the provisions of Article 27 §§ 2 and 3 of the Convention and Rule 24. 16.     On 11 August 2008, the Cypriot Government (“the intervening Government”) informed the Court that they wished to participate in the proceedings. They submitted observations on the merits (Rule 59 § 1). 17.     On 18 September 2008, the President granted leave to Redress, an international non-governmental organisation, to submit written observations, which were received on 2 October 2008 (Article 36 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 2). 18.     The applicants, the respondent Government and the intervening Government each filed a memorial. 19.     A hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 19 November 2008 (Rule 59 § 3). There appeared before the Court: (a)     for the respondent Government Mr   Z. Necatigil ,   Agent , Prof. Dr. J.A. Frowein , Mrs   S. Karabacak , Mr   T. Bilgiç , Mrs   D. Akçay, Mrs   A. Özdemir,   Advisers ; (b)     for the applicants Mr   A. Demetriades , Barrister, Mr   L. Christodoulou , Advocate, Mr   I. Brownlie QC ,   Counsel , Mr   L. Arakelian , Mr   C. P araskeva,   Advisers ; (c)     for the intervening Government Mr   P. Clerides , Attorney-General,   Agent , Mr   A.V.R . Lowe , Barrister-at-Law, Professor of Law, Mrs   F. Hampson , Barrister-at-Law, Professor of Law, Mrs   S.M. Joannides , Barrister-at-Law,   Advisers .   The Court heard addresses by Mr Brownlie and Mr Demetriades for the applicants, by Prof. Frowein for the respondent Government and by Mr Lowe for the intervening Government. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE A.     General context 20.     The complaints raised in this application arise out of the Turkish military operations in northern Cyprus in July and August 1974 and the continuing division of the territory of Cyprus. These events gave rise to four applications by the Government of Cyprus against the respondent State, which have led to various findings of violations of the Convention. The history is set out in the Court’s judgment in Cyprus v. Turkey ([GC], no.   25781/94, §§ 13-18, ECHR 2001 ‑ IV; hereinafter “the fourth inter-State case”) and the Court sees no reason for repetition. B.     The facts of these cases 21.     The facts are disputed by the parties. The Court notes that the summary of their versions of events given in the Chamber judgment have not been; these are in large part reproduced below, with the addition of some new information submitted by the parties and identified as such in the text. 1.     The applicants’ submissions on the facts (a)     Application no. 16064/90: Andreas Varnava 22.       The first applicant, an ironmonger, was born in 1947; he has been considered missing since 1974. His wife, the second applicant, was born in 1949 and resided in Lymbia. 23.     In July 1974 the first applicant, responding to the declared general mobilisation, enlisted as a reservist in the 305 Reservists Battalion which had its headquarters in Dhali village. On 8 to 9 August 1974 the reserve soldiers of the 305 Reservists Battalion, among them the applicant, took up the manning of Cypriot outposts along the front line opposite the Turkish military forces which extended between Mia Milia and Koutsovendis. 24.     On the morning of 14 August 1974, Turkish military forces, supported by tanks and air cover, launched an attack against the Cypriot area where the applicant and his battalion were serving. The Cypriot line of defence was broken and the Turkish military forces began advancing towards the area of Mia Milia; the Cypriot forces began retreating and dispersed in all directions. After a while the area was captured by the Turkish military forces and the applicant was trapped within. There has been no trace of the applicant since. 25.     Mr Christakis Ioannou of Pano Dhikomo and now of Stavros Refugee Camp Strovolos, who had been a prisoner of the Turkish military forces and/or the Turkish authorities, stated that at Adana Prison in Turkey, where he had been taken on 31 August 1974, there were another forty persons in the same room for three to four days. Among them was the applicant. After the said period they were split up and he had not seen the applicant since. (b)     Application no. 16065/90: Andreas Loizides 26.     The first applicant, a student, was born in 1954; he has been considered missing since 1974. His father, the second applicant, was born in 1907 and resided in Nicosia. 27.     In July 1974 the first applicant was serving as a second lieutenant in the 1st Company of the 256 Infantry Battalion stationed at Xeros. On about 30 July 1974 the battalion moved to the Lapithos area. The soldiers were split up into various groups; the applicant’s group, consisting of ten men, was ordered to take up positions on the Lapithos heights. 28.     On 5 August 1974 Turkish forces launched a strong attack from all sides against the Cypriot forces’ positions while other Turkish troops managed to encircle Lapithos. Owing to the Turkish superiority in men and weapons the Cypriot forces were ordered to retreat towards the centre of the village to the company base. The applicant arrived there with his men and was informed by the inhabitants that Lapithos was surrounded by Turkish troops. They hid their weapons in an orchard and put on civilian clothing. The same afternoon the applicant and others attempted unsuccessfully to break through the Turkish lines. They then returned to Lapithos where they spent the night. At about 9 a.m. on 6 August 1974 Turkish troops entered Lapithos and started extensive house-to-house searches. The applicant and his comrades were warned by the villagers and they dispersed in order to avoid capture. Since then, none of the members of the group has seen the applicant. 29.     Nicos Th. Tampas of the 256 Infantry Battalion, also on the Lapithos heights on 5 August 1974, mentioned in a statement that at approximately 9   p.m. on 6 August 1974 he entered a warehouse in the village where he found the applicant looking after a wounded man. After talking with the applicant, he left. That was the last time that he saw the applicant. He was himself arrested by the Turks on 9 August 1974 in Lapithos, detained in various prisons in Cyprus and Turkey and released on 22 October 1974. 30.     Christodoulos Panyi of Vatyli, now of Strovolos, in his statement declared that while he was a prisoner in Adana Prison he saw and recognised the applicant, whom he had previously met. (c)     Application no. 16066/90: Philippos Constantinou 31.     The first applicant, a student, was born in 1954; he has been considered missing since 1974. His father, the second applicant, was born in 1929 and resided in Nicosia. 32.     In July 1973 the first applicant enlisted to do his national service. He was posted to the 70 Engineers Battalion. On 5 August 1974, a section of the battalion, including the applicant, was sent on a mission in the Lapithos and Karavas area (Kyrenia district). The men spent the night at Lapithos and intended to complete the mission the following morning. 33.     At about 4.30 a.m. on 6 August 1974 the Turkish Army launched a full ‑ scale attack from all sides in the Karavas and Lapithos area. The applicant’s group leader ordered his men to split up into three groups and to withdraw towards Vasilia (also in the Kyrenia district). The applicant was in one of the groups which intended to withdraw by following a route along the coast. 34.     The men first reached the main Nicosia ‑ Kyrenia road near the “Airkotissa” restaurant. While resting, they heard shouting and the group leader sent the applicant and another soldier to investigate. As they had not returned after about fifteen minutes the remainder of the group left for Panagra (also in the Kyrenia district). On their way, they were ambushed by Turkish soldiers and the remaining group dispersed. 35.     Costas A. Sophocleous, of Nicosia, stated that, when he was a prisoner in Turkey from 30 July until 28 October 1974, he had met the applicant. They were in the same prison in Turkey and were subsequently transferred to Cyprus, at which point he had been released but not the applicant. 36.     Alexandros Papamichael, of Limassol, stated that he recognised the first applicant from a photograph that was shown to him by the second applicant and he had been with him in Adana Prison. 37.     Finally, the second applicant mentioned in a signed statement that he identified his missing son in a photograph published in Athinaiki , a Greek newspaper, on 28 September 1974. In this photograph Greek Cypriot prisoners were shown on a boat en route to Turkey. (d)     Application no. 16068/90: Demetris Theocharides 38.     The first applicant, a photographer, was born in 1953; he has been considered missing since 1974. His mother, the second applicant, was born in 1914 and resided in Nicosia. 39.     On 20 July 1974 the first applicant enlisted as a reservist. He was posted to the 1st Company of the 301 Infantry Battalion. On 22 July the whole battalion was ordered to move on the following day to the area of Ayios Ermolaos. The 1st Company took up defensive positions at a height called “Kalambaki”, near the Turkish Cypriot village of Pileri. 40.     At about 4.30 a.m. on 26 July 1974 the 1st Company came under attack from the Turkish Cypriot villages of Krini ‑ Pileri. The Turkish military forces consisted of a paratroop battalion, twenty tanks and high-angle guns. They succeeded in breaking through the Cypriot lines and infiltrated the right flank of the 1st Company in order to encircle it. The commander ordered the company to regroup at the village of Sysklepos; from there they were ordered to regroup at Kontemenos, where they arrived at about 3 p.m. After a roll call they found out that six soldiers of the 1st Company were absent, including the applicant. The area in which the 1st Company had been initially stationed was captured by the Turkish military forces. 41.     Mr Nicos Nicolaou of Strovolos, who was a prisoner at Adana in September 1974, stated that one day he heard a Turk calling the applicant’s name. He also saw the applicant whom he happened to know previously and noticed that he was lame in one leg. On 11 September 1974 Mr Nicolaou was taken to Antiyama Prison in Turkey and he had not seen the applicant since. (e)     Application no. 16069/90: Panicos Charalambous 42.     The first applicant, a student, was born in 1955; he has been considered missing since 1974. His mother, the second applicant, was born in 1935 and resided in Limassol. 43.     In 1972 the first applicant enlisted in the National Guard to do his military service. 44.     On 23 July 1974 the applicant’s father was informed by Andreas Komodromos that the applicant had left Synchari with the men of the Headquarters Company and had gone to Aglandjia. 45.     On 24 July 1974 Nikiforos Kominis with seventeen soldiers, including the applicant, set out from Aglandjia in two vehicles to reconnoitre the ground of the Koutsovendis-Vounos area. Three buses were seen driving along a street from the direction of Vounos village. An officer by the name of Votas ordered three or four soldiers to search the buses. The buses were full of Turkish soldiers who started firing at the Greek Cypriot men. The applicant was wounded in the right hand and on the left side of his ribs. Mr Andreas Komodromos cleaned his wounds with water, loaded his gun and told him to go back. After that the applicant was not seen again by his unit. 46.     According to the statement of Yiannis Melissis, who had been a prisoner of the Turks at Adana and Amasia in September 1974, he happened to meet the applicant during his captivity. They both stayed with others in cell no.   9 until 18 September. They had chatted together every day and became friends. On 18 September Yiannis Melissis was brought back to Cyprus and was released on 21 September 1974. The applicant had given him a letter to pass on to his father but he left it in his pocket when he changed his clothes. All the clothes belonging to the prisoners were burned. 47.     The second applicant in her statement mentioned that she had recognised her son in a photograph that was published in the Greek newspaper Athinaiki on 28 September 1974 and showed Cypriot prisoners being transported to Turkey on a Turkish destroyer in July 1974. (f)     Application no. 16070/90: Eleftherios Thoma 48.     The first applicant, a car mechanic, was born in 1951; he has been considered missing since 1974. His father, the second applicant, was born in 1921 and resided in Strovolos. 49.     In July 1974, in response to the general mobilisation, the first applicant enlisted as a reserve sergeant in the Headquarters Company of the 251   Infantry Battalion. 50.     On 20 July 1974, all the men of the Headquarters Company, including the applicant, were trying to prevent the Turkish landing which was taking place in the area of “Pikro Nero”, Kyrenia. At around 12 noon on 21 July the Turkish military forces which had landed, supported by tanks and air cover, attacked the Cypriot forces that were defending the area. Owing to the superiority of the Turkish military forces in men and weapons the 251   Infantry Battalion was ordered to retreat towards Trimithi village. The applicant was present during the regrouping of the battalion. Two hours after the regrouping the commander of the battalion led his men out of Trimithi village, reaching a ravine between the villages of Ayios Georghios and Templos where they took up battle positions. A number of commandos of the 33rd Battalion arrived in the same ravine. At around 3 p.m. on 22 July 1974, Turkish military forces surrounded the Cypriot forces in the ravine and opened fire. The commander ordered a counter ‑ attack intending to break the Turkish military forces’ lines and retreat towards Kyrenia. No trace of the applicant was found during the counter-attack and retreat. 51.     On 4 September 1974 the Special News Bulletin – a daily communication by the Turkish Cypriot administration – published a photograph of Greek Cypriot prisoners of war under the caption “Greek Cypriot prisoners of war having their lunch. Yesterday they were visited by a representative of the Turkish Red Crescent”. In that photograph the first applicant was identified by the second applicant. 52.     A former prisoner, Mr Efstathios Selefcou, of Elio, now at Eylenja, in a signed statement to the Cypriot police said that during his transportation from Cyprus to Turkey he saw and talked to the first applicant, whom he knew very well since they had attended the same secondary school. (g)     Application no. 16071/90: Savvas Hadjipanteli 53.     The first applicant, a bank employee, was born in 1938 and lived at Yialousa; he has been considered missing since 1974. His wife, the second applicant, was born in 1938 and resided in Nicosia. 54.     On 18 August 1974 about three or four saloon cars, a bus and two tanks, all full of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot soldiers, turned up at Yialousa and stopped near the police station. The soldiers got out and ordered everyone to assemble at the nearby coffee house. About thirty-five persons gathered there. A Turkish officer told them that from that time they would be under Turkish administration and ordered them to make a census of the Greek Cypriot inhabitants of the village from the age of 7 to 70 and that he would be back on the following day to collect the lists. On the following day, the same civilian and military vehicles (tanks) returned. A number of Turks got out, marched to the coffee house and asked for the lists. Another group of Turkish soldiers was carrying out a house-to-house search. They imposed a curfew and, having taken the lists, they took with them for questioning nine persons, including the first applicant. They put them on a bus and drove them outside the village in the direction of Famagusta. 55.     On the same day, Yialousa was visited by United Nations men to whom the arrest of the nine Greek Cypriots was reported by their co-villagers. 56.     According to the applicants, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (“the ICRC”) in Cyprus visited Pavlides Garage in the Turkish-occupied sector of Nicosia and on 28 August 1974 recorded the names of twenty Greek Cypriots held there, including the nine persons from Yialousa (they cited document EZY284D) [5] . Costas M. Kaniou, Sofronios Mantis and Ioannis D. Constantis also saw the said detainees at the Pavlides Garage, during the same period that they were detained there; they were released later. 57.     On 27 August 1974 a group of Turkish Cypriot civilians came to Yialousa looking for Pentelis Pantelides, Loizos Pallaris, Michael   Sergides and Christakis Panayides. Having found them, they led them to the Savings Bank. After having emptied two safes they ordered that the third one should be opened, but they were told that the keys were with the applicant. Subsequently they left, having shut and sealed the outside door. After ten to twelve days the same group looked for the same persons and went again to the bank building. They had the two keys for the safe, which the applicant always carried with him. Loizos Pallaris opened the safe. The keys were in a leather case which the applicant used to carry, but his personal keys had been removed. The Turkish Cypriots took the contents of the safe, sealed the gate and left. (h)     Application no. 16072/90: Savvas Apostolides 58.     The first applicant, a moulder, was born in 1955; he has been considered missing since 1974. His father, the second applicant, was born in 1928 and resided in Strovolos. 59.     In 1974 the first applicant was doing his national service in the 70   Engineers Battalion stationed in Nicosia. On 5 August 1974 a section of the battalion, including the applicant, was sent on a mission in the Karavas and Lapithos area. The men spent the night at Lapithos and intended to complete their mission the following morning. At about 4.30 a.m. on 6   August 1974 the Turkish military forces launched a full ‑ scale attack from all sides in the area of Karavas and Lapithos. The commander ordered his men to split up into three groups, withdraw towards Vasilia and meet there. On their way they were ambushed by the Turkish military forces and in the confusion dispersed. 60.     Later Mr Costas Themistocleous of Omorphita, now of Nicosia, who was a prisoner at Adana Prison, saw there the applicant, whom he had known from his childhood; this was on or about 17 October 1974, while he was about to return to Cyprus. They did not speak to each other but waved. (i)     Application no. 16073/90: Leontis Demetriou Sarma 61.     The first applicant was born in 1947; he has been considered missing since 1974. His wife, the second applicant, was born in 1949 and resided in Limassol. 62.     On 20 July 1974, following the general mobilisation, the first applicant enlisted as a reservist in the 399 Infantry Battalion. He was put in the Support Company. On 22 July the battalion moved to the Mia Milia area to reinforce the Greek Cypriot forces and to man outposts on the front line. 63.     On the morning of 14 August 1974 Turkish military forces, supported by tanks and air cover, launched a heavy attack against the Greek Cypriot forces in the area, where the applicant was with his battalion. Owing to the superiority of the Turkish military forces the Greek Cypriot defence line was broken, the Turkish military forces advanced towards the Mia Milia area, and the Greek Cypriot forces began to retreat. The area was, in a short period of time, occupied by the Turkish military forces and the applicant was trapped within. No trace of the applicant has been found since. 64.     An ex-prisoner of war, Mr Costas Mena of Palaekythro, now at Korakou, stated that during his detention at Antiyama Prison in Turkey he had seen the applicant, who was detained in cell no. 9. On 18 October 1974 all the prisoners at Antiyama Prison were taken to Adana Prison. There they were all lined up in four rows. A Turkish military officer picked out some of the prisoners, including the applicant, who were taken away. Mr Mena had not seen the applicant since. 2.     The respondent Government’s submissions on the facts 65.     The respondent Government disputed that the applicants had been taken into captivity by the Turkish army during the military action in Cyprus in 1974. They considered that the inevitable conclusion from the information provided in the application forms was that all the alleged “missing persons”, except Savvas Hadjipanteli, were military personnel who died in action during the period July to August 1974. 66.     The respondent Government noted that, since the introduction of these applications, files relating to the same “missing persons” had been submitted by the Government of Cyprus to the United Nations Committee on Missing Persons (“the CMP”) in Cyprus during 1994 and 1995. In these files there were no assertions that these people had been seen in any of the prisons in Turkey. The names of the alleged witnesses listed in applications nos. 16064/90 (Christakis Ioannou), 16065/90 (Christodoulos Panyi), 16066/90 (Costas A. Sophocleous), 16068/90 (Nicos Nicolaou), 16069/90 (Yiannis Melissis), 16070/90 (Efstathios Selefcou), 16072/90 (Costas Themistocleous) and 16073/90 (Costas Mena) were not cited in support. The alleged sightings were therefore without foundation. 67.     As regards Savvas Hadjipanteli (no. 16071/90), who was a civilian, the respondent Government noted that the ICRC had visited the Pavlides Garage where he had allegedly been held but his name, contrary to the applicants’ assertion, did not appear in the list of Greek Cypriots held. In any event, it was a transit centre where people were not held for more than a few days before being released or moved elsewhere. In the file submitted to the CMP, there was only a reference to witnesses seeing the key case which he was alleged to always carry on his person. The materials of the ICRC, who paid regular visits to prisoners and internees in Turkey, also showed that none of the alleged missing persons had been brought to Turkey or detained. All prisoners that had been taken to Turkey were repatriated between 16   September 1974 and 28 October 1974 and lists of those concerned had been handed over to the Greek Cypriot authorities. 68.     As concerned the alleged identification of the missing persons in photographs, the Government pointed out that a scientific investigation of certain published photographs and documentary film had been carried out by Professor Pierre A. Margot of the Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology of the Law Faculty of the University of Lausanne at the request of the third member of the CMP. This had shown that it was extremely dubious that anyone could be identified from these documents and that any alleged identification by relatives was unreliable given the quality of the material and their emotional feelings. 3.     The submissions of the intervening Government 69.     The Government of Cyprus submitted that the first applicants went missing in areas under the control of the Turkish forces. (a)     Varnava, no. 16064/90 and Sarma, no. 16073/90 70.     These two applicants had been brought with their units to the area of Mia Milia to man Cypriot outposts along the front line. On 14 August 1974 Turkish armed forces launched the attack which gained them control over the whole of northern and eastern Cyprus by 16 August 1974. When the Turkish forces broke through the Cypriot line of defence and advanced on Mia Milia, the Cypriot forces retreated and dispersed in all directions. The Turkish forces rapidly gained control of the entire surrounding area. Many Greek Cypriot soldiers, including the two applicants, were hemmed in and completely surrounded. They could not have escaped as the intervening Government would have known of their fate. (b)     Loizides, no. 16065/90 71.     This applicant was in charge of the soldiers who were defending Lapithos. After the Turkish forces encircled Lapithos, the Greek Cypriot forces were ordered to retreat. The applicant’s group put on civilian clothing and unsuccessfully tried to break out of the village. When the Turkish forces entered the village the next morning, the applicant’s group dispersed to avoid capture. At about 9 p.m. on 6 August 1974, the applicant was seen by Nicos Th. Tampas in a warehouse tending a soldier with a head injury. Mr   Tampas was later captured and detained. His was the last reported sighting of the first applicant. It was most likely that the first applicant had remained with the injured man and was taken into detention by the Turkish forces who were in control of the entire area. Only one man was known to have escaped from the village and he, unlike the first applicant, had local knowledge of the terrain. (c)     Constantinou, no. 16066/90 72.     Under attack from the Turkish army, the first applicant’s unit was ordered to split into three groups and withdraw westwards. The applicant’s group reached the Nicosia-Kyrenia road, 200 metres from the “Airkotissa” restaurant. The applicant and another man were sent to investigate shouting coming from the restaurant. After fifteen minutes when they did not return, the group left for Panagra. At the time that the applicant and the other soldier were sent to the restaurant, there were Turkish forces in the area. The most plausible explanation for the two men not returning, in the absence of any sound of fighting or shooting, was that they had been detained, either to prevent them giving away the Turkish positions, for information or as prisoners of war. (d)     Theocharides, no. 16068/90 73.     On 26 July 1974 the first applicant was discovered to be missing from his unit at roll call after they had broken through encircling Turkish forces. The area in which his unit had been stationed was captured by Turkish forces. Whatever happened to the applicant afterwards occurred in an area controlled by the Turkish forces. (e)     Charalambous, no. 16069/90 74.     This applicant was seen wounded in his right hand and on the left side of his ribcage after a clash between Greek Cypriot forces and three buses full of Turkish soldiers coming from Vounos village. His wounds were cleaned by a witness named Komodromos and he was told to make his way uphill with two other men, one of whom was also injured, to the monastery where the Greek Cypriot forces were. The other two men were discovered dead two days later when the Turkish forces withdrew. It was clear that the applicant had either been found dead by the Turkish forces or, as was more likely, found and detained in an injured condition. (f)     Thoma, no. 16070/90 75.     This applicant was among those attempting to prevent the invasion of Kyrenia. Some individuals were identified as killed in the operation; the applicant was not among them. The intervening Government had no evidence that this applicant was dead. It had to be assumed that the applicant had been detained alive. 76.     This was further corroborated by the photograph published in the Special News Bulletin , issued daily by the Turkish Cypriot administration, on 4 September 1974, of Greek Cypriot prisoners of war having their lunch. The first applicant was identified at the time by his father, the second applicant. 77.     In their observations before the Grand Chamber, the intervening Government provided a copy of a statement dated 31 July 1976 by Efstathios Selefcou taken by a police officer which stated that while being carried as a prisoner on a ship from Cyprus to Turkey he had seen and spoken briefly to Eleftherios Thoma, whom he knew from school. They also provided a copy of the ICRC Central Tracing Agency sheet (ref. no.   EZG 14023/2) according to which Thoma had been sighted in a Turkish army hospital in Mintzeli in mid-October 1974. The intervening Government explained that they had not provided this information to the CMP as it had no mandate to investigate outside the territory of Cyprus and a policy decision had been taken when submitting documents to the CMP on 7   June 1994 not to antagonise Turkey whose cooperation was necessary if the CMP was to begin effective operation. (g)     Hadjipanteli, no. 16071/90 78.     By 16 August 1974 Turkish forces were in control of northern and eastern Cyprus, including the Karpas peninsula where the first applicant worked as general cashier in the Savings Bank in Yialousa. On 18 August Turkish and Turkish Cypriot soldiers arrived in the village and a Turkish officer ordered a census of the Greek Cypriots between 7 and 70 years of age. The next day, the lists were handed over and Turkish soldiers carried out searches. They left, taking with them on a bus, nine individuals, including the first applicant. This was reported by fellow villagers. 79.     Turkish Cypriots came to the village in the circumstances reported by the applicants (see paragraphs 54-57 above). They had the two keys for a safe, which the first applicant always carried with him. It was highly probable that the Turkish Cypriots had obtained the keys by informing those holding the first applicant, showing that he was alive and in detention for at least nine days. There was some evidence that he was detained after those nine days, at least until 28 August 1974, at Pavlides Garage. 80.     The list of persons seen by the ICRC detained at Pavlides Garage on 28   August 1974 included Savvis Kalli, which was the name under which this first applicant had been recorded (the first name being misspelled and the surname of his father (Kallis), as appearing on the first applicant’s identity card, also being misspelled). 81.     An affidavit dated 6 November 2007 by Lakis N. Christolou, a lawyer of the firm representing the applicants in this application, was submitted to the Grand Chamber. It stated that the son of the missing man, Mr   Georgios Hadjipanteli, recounted that at the end of 2005 he had met a Turkish Cypriot writer who had informed him that, while investigating disappearances, she had discovered evidence indicating that the nine missing persons from Yialousa had been buried near the Turkish Cypriot village of Galatia. When the son conveyed this information to the CMP he was informed that the inhabitants of Galatia had already given information to the CMP about the execution and burial of Greek Cypriot prisoners near their village. (h)     Apostolides, no. 16072/90 82.     This first applicant withdrew with his section from Lapithos towards Vasilia. They were ambushed by Turkish military forces and dispersed. There has been no news of the applicant since. The intervening Government had no knowledge of the first applicant, which meant that he had not escaped. Nor was there any evidence that he was killed in the am