The Cyprus Action Network deplores the condition of the prisons in the Republic of Cyprus. Greek Cypriot Newspapers had a wide coverage of the issue including a number of articles in several Cypriot dailies such as the Cyprus Mail^vii. According to a statement of the Central Prisons’ Director in the Cyprus Mail, they do not fulfil EU standards because of severe overcrowding, security, disciplinary and health problems.

CAN demands the immediate release of prisoners jailed for entering Cyprus illegally and working in the Republic of Cyprus. We believe that illegal workers should not be classified as common criminals. Prolonged imprisonment of such people entails many risks for their families back home who depend on them. This policy also leads to overcrowding^viii in the Cyprus prisons. Gil-Robles’ report from his visit to Cyprus prisons in the summer confirmed our fears of overcrowding. In the case of students, this policy creates many problems in the completion of their studies. We believe that foreign students should be allowed to work part time for up to ten hours a week; as many Cypriot students have the right to do in several foreign countries.

COUNCIL of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Alvaro Gil-Robles yesterday singled out overcrowding as one of the major flaws at the Nicosia Central Prisons.

Speaking after an hour-long meeting with President Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday Gil-Robles described the talk as "very useful". "My meeting with the president was very useful because we dealt in detail with all the problems. I believe this will give me a fuller picture for the remainder of my visit," he told reporters.

The Commissioner refused to discuss what was said in the meeting, but focused instead on his initial assessment of the Central Prisons. "I can already say I found problems, which need to be solved. The most important of all being overpopulation."

Gil-Robles stressed that the focus should not remain on this issue alone. "The reasons why these people are in the prisons need to be examined, and that is the most important issue, involving the freedom of illegal immigrants and the jailing of debtors."

These were issues which needed more detailed analysis and on which the Commissioner would base his recommendations, he added. Asked whether the Turkish occupation forces were discussed in relation to human rights violations on the island, he replied, "The Commissioner is here to study human rights violations of all the people here".

Gil-Robles will submit a report on Cyprus to a CoE Committee of Ministers and Parliamentary Assembly in September. He said the report would assess the extent to which human rights were being protected by the Cypriot authorities.