AS A part of society that should be treated with extra sensitivity and respect, people with disabilities are in fact made to feel like second-rate citizens in Cyprus, if recent research on the matter is to be analysed.

Their everyday life in Cyprus is crammed with obstacles and hardships, which prevent them from executing tasks that the rest of us take for granted; something they see as a clear form of discrimination.

Talking to Cyprus Mail yesterday, Demetris Lambrianides head of the Paraplegics Association said that one of the main problems people with disabilities are facing is that of access to buildings.

“As the law stands at the moment, any buildings that were built before 1999 are not obliged to install facilities that enable access to disabled people. As a result, paraplegics are excluded from buildings that offer entertainment, education and other services”, he said.
Apart from access, there are many other problems that need to be addressed says Lambrianides.

“Some pavements are not big enough to accommodate wheelchairs, there are no special means of transport for disabled people and benefits handed out by the State are pitiful. Unfortunately, you will not detect any sympathy from the State when it comes to the needs of the disabled”, he added.

The limitation in facilities and wrong upkeep of the set standards prompted Panayiotis Georgiou to issue a formal complaint to Ombudswoman Eliana Nicolaou, citing the near impossibility of life in Cyprus while in a wheelchair.

Following his complaint, Nicolaou at the Commissioner’s Office carried out research that proved categorically that, even though relevant laws and regulations are in force, very little has actually been done.

Results from a research carried out by the Planning Offices at the Ministry of Communication showed that access to public property for disabled people was limited.

According to the law, ramps should be at a six per cent decline or less. Yet due to the age of most buildings, a ten per cent decline has been accepted.

Only 27 per cent of buildings had a ramp of 10 per cent or less.

The research also showed that only 22 per cent of these buildings had disabled parking spaces, nine per cent had designated toilet areas and only four per cent had specially accommodating elevators.

Access to private buildings that house public services is also limited, with only 49 in every 144 buildings owning appropriate facilities.

It is worth taking into account that many old government buildings do not have the ability to install facilities for the disabled, as there is a shortage of space. In the occasion that they can install ramps, they are not able to do so within the specified standards.

A separate search carried out by the Green Party on 32 public buildings, including all Ministries, showed that at 50 per cent of them there were no designated parking areas available.

And even though there were special ramps at 50 per cent of them, they were not within the legal standards and therefore of not much use to them.

In 30 per cent of them mobility was difficult, as there were obstacles obstructing their way and in many cases, entrances for the disabled were either too tight or locked making access impossible.

The laws and regulations exist, says Nicolaou, but on the whole they are not being applied.
As a result disabled people face difficulties, and in some places simply cannot, have access to public buildings.

The Commissioner has issued a report in which she asks the Ministry of Communication to conduct a special program with clear objectives on the matter along with specific dates for when it will be enforced.

This will probably clarify how the £40,000 a year, which is part of the government’s budget and is used for the construction of disabled establishments, is being spent.

CYPRUS IS yet to close a loophole in the Constitution that makes it possible for child pornographers and other offenders to upload illicit material onto the internet.

Child pornographers are the scourge of modern society. With the advent of the internet, global authorities are struggling to stem the flow of illegal material onto the information superhighway, So what happens when these offenders are actually protected by the law?
Shocking as it may seem, this is the case in Cyprus.

It came to light last week that child porn is being uploaded to the internet through Cypriot telephone lines and authorities can’t take immediate action as the culprits are protected by Chapter 17 of the Cyprus Constitution, which states that a human being’s privacy cannot be infringed upon by listening in on personal telephone conversations.

This means that any activities taking place on private telephone line – uploading of offensive material, phishing for victims and chatting about child pornography – cannot be used as evidence in court.

The House Legal Committee held a meeting last Thursday, in which the subject was discussed and MPs put their views forward on the matter. It later emerged that out of the five main political parties, only two were in favour of amending Chapter 17.

As reported in the Cyprus Mail on Friday, AKEL firmly rejected the alteration, while EDEK and DIKO refrained from giving a definite answer. DISY and the European Party were the two that said ‘yes’ to a change in the constitution.

So what is worse, the negativity or the downright indifference? Where does the innocence of a child sit in the government’s list of priorities?

Without the burden of extensive legal knowledge, things seem fairly black and white. We have this problem: sexual offenders are using a legal loophole to practice their crime and therefore this loophole needs to be closed.

So why are some parties hesitant to move to protect innocent children?

Trying to contact or indeed talk to anyone from coalition partner and majority holder AKEL proved a hard task.

Gallingly, when pressed on the issue, AKEL MEP Adamos Adamou went so far as to say that “child pornography is the least of our problems”.

Agis Agapiou, AKEL MP who sits on the House Legal Affairs Committee, was slightly more forthcoming with answers, even if they were rather vague.

He said that AKEL’s main objective was the protection of human rights and people’s privacy. “The idea of an alteration in the constitution without the invasion of the public’s privacy, is good in theory but impossible in practice,” he said, making a clear reference to DISY’S suggestion that a change is made with the appropriate terms and conditions.

When asked why AKEL was so against amending Chapter 17, he said it would be dangerous and politically unfeasible.

“AKEL is against the change for two reasons: firstly it is dangerous to allow the surveillance of telephone conversations, as everyone’s privacy will be exposed. Secondly for political reasons as the constitution can only be altered with the invocation of the Law of Necessity, something I don’t think is valid”, he said.

Asked whether the alteration would speed up the process of dealing with such pressing issues like child pornography, terrorism and drug trafficking, he said there are other ways of dealing with the problem and that the government was currently studying methods used by the European Union.

“AKEL is studying how it is dealt with by other member states of the EU as well as their committees. The fact that this legislation (on phone tapping), so far, isn’t part of the acquis communautaire answers by itself whether the EU considers necessary the decree of this legislation”, he told Sunday Mail.

Agapiou’s statement was firmly contradicted by DISY MP Ionas Nikolaou, who said that it was the EU itself that had requested the Legal Committee alter Chapter 17. It was also member states of the EU that notified Cyprus about the two lines that were transmitting the illicit material.

DISY has positioned itself as absolutely in favour of the alteration, says Nikolaou, provided that the public’s human rights are protected by set conditions and presuppositions.

“Our basic principle is the further protection of human rights. I believe that with the alteration of Chapter 17, even if some would say that this would restrict the right to private communication, we will be able to protect our children’s right to a private life from those who are exploiting them,” he said in response to AKEL’s statements.

Even though the topic of altering the constitution has returned to the headlines this week, it has been an issue that the authorities have been trying to deal with for years. Since 1999 in fact, according to Kyrenia Deputy Christodoulos Taramountas.

Taramountas said as constitution stands at the moment, if a child is raped then his/her testimony does not stand in court without the added testimony of an adult, meaning that an adult would have to have witnessed the brutality. Something that is highly unlikely. This is also something that needs to be changed, he said.

This doesn’t mean, however, that child pornography isn’t being dealt with at all. Police are working in collaboration with Interpol and Europol. In 2000, the Cyprus Parliament enacted the Law of combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Exploitation of Children [No 3(1)/2000], in which the use of children in pornographic performances and materials was included.

Vicky Christoforou, Law Officer for the European Community Law, agrees that the constitution should be altered but adds that if it isn’t, there are still ways of combating child pornography.
“The prosecution of such distributors can take place in accordance to other chapters of the law, not just Chapter 17. But it would certainly be made easier if the specific legislation was altered and online conversations could stand as evidence in court.”

Apart from being a severely serious issue, the oversight leaves Cyprus exposed to the European Union. Child pornography is not an issue that is taken lightly by Europe; the culprits need to be caught and jailed as soon as possible.

Christoforou sums it all up with her closing sentence: “An alteration must happen so that we can lock these vile individuals up.”

According to the paper, Mr Karatas possesses serious evidence that his son did not commit suicide.

Mr Serifoglu submitted a written application to the so-called attorney general of the occupation regime, Akin Sait, asking for a ballistic report. Five months later Mr Sait gave a negative answer to this request. In his answer, Mr Sait said that there were threats and humiliating expressions in the letter of Mr Serifoglu and therefore he would not give him any information regarding the incident and did not feel the need to answer him. Mr Sait noted also that Mr Serifoglu was free to resort to any legal means he wished.

In statements to AFRIKA, the lawyer said they were preparing to bring the case to the ECHR.

I/Ts.

Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 05-10-10

ASYLUM seekers are being left to sleep in parks and mosques, because of a chronic shortage of facilities on the island.

While families are offered housing at the Asylum Seekers Reception Centre in Kofinou, single men are being turned away and as a result are sleeping rough, according to the president of immigrant support group KISA.

The statement was also backed by UNHCR representative in Cyprus Olga Komiti, who reported that single men in Cyprus who arrive as asylum seekers must often resort to sleeping in courtyards. Komiti called on authorities to ensure that asylum seekers are provided with housing as required by EU law.

In a meeting earlier this week, the Interior House Committee announced plans to establish a general law that implements Council Directive 2003/9/EC, which lays down minimum standards on the reception of asylum seekers “to ensure them a dignified standard of living and comparable living conditions in all Member States”.
According to the President of KISA (Movement for Equality, Support and Anti-Racism), Doros Polycarpou, the government is facing potential fines from the EU for not implementing the law and is now moving quickly to pass a national law that lays down specific policies dealing with asylum seekers.

“We were supposed to have a national law [on receiving asylum seekers] last February but we didn’t manage it, so it is being discussed now in October to be implemented,” Polycarpou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. “The Directive describes the conditions that have to be satisfied, but there has to be a creation of a national law to implement those conditions.”

Polycarpou said that housing and employment for asylum seekers are two of the most important issues that the national law will address.

“The law says that every asylum seekers will be provided with housing,” he said. “But they have changed their laws and the Reception Centre in Kofinou is no longer accepting families. So when single men arrive, for example, there is no service that provides them housing.”

Polycarpou said there were two ways the government could satisfy its legal requirements and ensure housing for asylum seekers: by giving them a place to stay for free or by covering the rent.

“Right now the government offers part of rent, and that is only if you get welfare,” he said. “For one person, the amount given is £90 per month for rent. But we know that even in the old city rent costs £160 to £200 per month for a room.

“Therefore, many people don’t have the opportunity to rent houses. So they stay either in the park or in a mosque. Or you have families of five sleeping in one room, the parents sleeping with the kids. This can’t happen.”

Polycarpou referred to current housing conditions for asylum seekers as illegal but believed that the government would soon have to fulfil its obligations lest it faced lawsuits.

Some have been critical of suggestions that the government should cover the rent of asylum seekers, pointing out that the government does not pay rent for its own citizens and so it should not privilege asylum seekers over Cypriots.

But Polycarpou noted that there is no directive stating that the government has an obligation to house Cypriots. “If there was such a directive, then okay, we’d say they should be handled in the same way. But there is no such directive.”

KISA has been meeting with the Interior House Committee to offer suggestions on the new national asylum seeker law. One of the suggestions of the immigrant support group is that the government offer financial assistance to asylum seekers for the first three months, which is the most difficult period, and then offer them employment opportunities.

With present policies, the government can wait up to a year before offering employment to asylum seekers.

KISA recommended that the government also initiate a training and educational programme to assist asylum seekers during the first three months.

Polycarpou said that it was important to offer asylum seekers work because it was “psychologically destructive” for them to be passive and jobless, and because they could contribute to the society by being productive.

“We will be happy, considering the present tragic situation, if even the minimum requirements by the EU are made into a reality.”

An international child porn web is using Cyprus to load the internet with child pornography using a legal loophole, it was revealed yesterday.

Attorney-general Petros Klerides told a Parliamentary committee that due to constitutional provisions protecting the privacy of telephone conversations, Cyprus has turned into a center of pornographic transmission on the internet.

Two lines in Cyprus are being used to upload child pornographic material.

The subject came to light when European police authorities made inquiries over the two phone lines in question. Justice Minister Doros Theodorou described the situation as very serious. Talking on CyBC, he said child pornography was an unacceptable crime.

“It’s a very serious issue and to make matters worse, due to the fact that it has to do with the internet, the issue has taken on international dimensions,” he said.
He added there was no specific information on the identity and origins of the child porn photos and as a result he couldn’t make any further comment on the matter.

But he stressed that this doesn’t mean that the photographs originate from Cyprus. “If you’re asking my opinion I’d say that they don’t come from Cyprus, but it is not relevant. This is about an international crime, a cross-border crime and an electronic crime. Child pornography today is to the EU what a red flag is to a bull.”

The most frustrating thing of all, he continued, is that for the moment nothing can be done about it. “Our hands are tied. We can’t do anything.”

Ionas Nikolaou, head of the House Legal Affairs Committee, also spoke of the impossibility of immediate action saying that even though they are aware of the offenders’ identity, replies can’t be given to the EU as their privacy is protected by the Constitution.

Talking to Cyprus Mail yesterday, Nikolaou said that regretfully there are no exceptions when it comes to the relevant chapter 17 of the Cypriot Constitution.

Due to the protection of privacy, serious matters such as child pornography and drug trafficking cannot be looked into.

Consequences on the course of Cyprus in the EU are dire, something Nikolaou said needs to be controlled: “We can’t keep apologizing to the EU, we must sort this problem out soon. The Constitution needs to be altered”, he said.

The government also agrees that the constitution needs to be changed; though this is the first time they’ve said anything about it, says Nikolaou.

A meeting for the House Legal Affairs Committee has been arranged for next Thursday to discuss the pending amendment.

17/9/2005- The trial of Christodoulos Nicolaides, the man accused of attacking and injuring a Turkish Cypriot and his Greek Cypriot friend at a Nicosia caf? on July 29, began yesterday at the Nicosia Assizes. The 28-year-old former policeman turned salesman made headlines after being arrested for allegedly attacking two men, Greek Cypriot Marinos Kleanthous and Turkish Cypriot Sadik Aktan. The story made bigger headlines when it was reported that Nicolaides was linked to the ultra-nationalist party Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn).  Although there is no official Cyprus branch of Chrysi Avgi, there are a reported 28 members on the island, of which, according to police, Nicolaides is the leader. Nicolaides denies those claims. Nicolaides faces eight charges, which include causing actual bodily harm, assault and acting with intent to incite hostility between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. He has so far denied all charges. The court yesterday heard statements by three police officers. Kleanthous, a witness in the trial, also made a statement saying that he did not see Nicolaides involved in the fight. Meanwhile, the prosecution is also charging Nicolaides with the actual bodily harm of Turkish Cypriot Veysel Toksoy, who was attacked in Troodos on March 13. According to reports, Aktan and Kleanthous were with a group of other friends at the caf? when they were attacked and beaten. Nicolaides was later tracked down by police at his home and was arrested. Nicolaides later told police that night that the incident was a misunderstanding which had nothing to do with the fact that one of the victims was a Turkish Cypriot. According to one source, the two groups were sitting next to each other at the caf? when at one point the Greek and Turkish Cypriot pointed and laughed towards the suspect and his friends sparking the fight. The former policeman told the court, “I never hurt anyone. The Turkish Cypriot was not touched. The incident happened after they verbally abused us.” Fears that Golden Dawn supporters might turn up for the trial proved unfounded. The trial is set to continue on September 20.
©Cyprus Mail http://www.cyprus-mail.com

EU NATIONALS residing in Peyia are being told that they cannot vote in Sunday’s by-election to elect a new mayor because the legislation has not yet been amended by Parliament, even though EU law enshrines their right to vote.

The September 4 by-election is taking place because the former Peyia mayor, Demetris Kappetzis, resigned in late July due to ill health.

Peyia residents will only cast their votes for a new mayor who will complete Kappetzis’ term, which will last until the next island-wide elections in December 2006. Municipal elections take place every five years.

With EU accession, expatriates in Cyprus who are EU nationals and who have satisfied the residency requirements to vote are able to participate in municipal elections.

The Paphos village of Peyia boasts one of the highest populations of expatriates per capita on the island. The real estate boom in the Coral Bay region has accelerated the incoming tide of EU nationals, mostly British.

A Peyia municipality official said yesterday that EU nationals could vote in Sunday’s election if they were listed on the electoral roll.

But Election Officer Lazarus Savvides told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that EU nationals would not be able to vote in Sunday’s election because the legislation on voting has not yet been amended.

“If they are members of a European country then we will change the legislation so that they will be able to elect and be elected,” Savvides said. “Right now they cannot vote because the legislation has to be amended.”

Savvides could not specify when the legislation would be amended, but said that “our main aim is to have the legislation in place for the general elections in 2006”.

National elections for Parliament are restricted to Cypriot citizens, but EU nationals are now granted the rights to vote in municipal elections and European parliament elections.

Directive 94/80 of the European Commission, which details the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections, obliges member states to inform non-Cypriot EU nationals of their voting rights:

“The Directive… requires the Member State of residents to inform non-national citizens of the Union ‘in good time and in appropriate manner’ of the conditions and detailed arrangements for the exercise of these rights in elections in that State.”

One concerned Peyia resident said that not only had the government not disclosed any information about the electoral rights of EU citizens, but have not even posted any information on Sunday’s election in the town municipal office.
“My husband went and they hadn’t even posted an official notice that there are elections on Sunday,” she said. “Candidates are out doing their usual electioneering, but nothing is posted about the election.”

There are two candidates running for mayor in the Sunday election, a DIKO candidate and an independent formerly in the communist party, AKEL, though AKEL is not supporting his candidacy.

There are rumours that as the August 25 deadline for candidates officially to declare approached, the independent candidate was pressured to drop out of the race. The candidate has not stepped down, however, and the race is anticipated to be a close one.

There are around 70 registered non-Cypriot EU nationals in Peyia at present, although the figure could not be confirmed or denied by the municipal office. Those voters could play a pivotal role in what should be a tight race on Sunday.

The Peyia resident could not understand why they had not adopted the changes demanded by the EU. “They have had a whole year to incorporate these changes. EU Nationals can vote in Brussels elections, so why not in municipal elections?”

“There are some cases where the government might say ‘oh, we weren’t ready yet, we ran into some troubles’, and that’s fine. But this is about elections and that’s a whole different category. What if a mayor resigns next month in another town? Are they again going to tell registered voters to wait until 2006?”

She cited the construction of 7,000 villas in the immediate Peyia surroundings in the last few years as an example of how Peyia has been carelessly over-developed, adding there were many EU nationals who felt as she did about this issue and wanted to be able to vote for candidates, as they are entitled to do by law, who shared their positions.

Another Peyia resident, David, is currently working to put together an informal guide for EU nationals on their voting rights in Cyprus, since the government has not yet provided the information as it should have.

“I have been on the phone all morning, trying to find out whether or not I can vote,” said David Ball, a British expat who has been living in Cyprus for the last 14 years. “I was told in the Paphos District office that I can’t vote because these are temporary elections.”

Ball has been a registered voter in Cyprus since 2004 and he voted last year in the EU elections. “I’m registered on the electoral roll. A Cypriot who is on the roll is allowed to vote in local elections. So then why, if I am on the roll, am I not allowed? I would like to find out why I wasn’t put on that list and whose decision it was to not be put me on that list.”

Interior Ministry official Demetris Demetriou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that although EU nationals like Ball had been entered into the electoral roll for EU elections in 2004, the necessary forms had not yet been submitted to the various districts to allow them to vote in local elections.

When asked why they could not register the voters over the next few days so that the Peyia citizens could vote on Sunday, Demetriou said that it was because the electoral roll is updated every trimester, and the last trimester expired on July 2. “If we are ready to enrol them in local elections, then they will be enrolled on October 2.”

But he conceded that even if the EU nationals had registered before any of the trimester deadlines this year or last year, they still would not have been allowed to vote. “We didn’t have the time frame to get the papers ready for local elections, but they will be in place by the 2006 elections.”

But according to a legal expert in the European Commission, 2006 is more than two years too late. The Brussels expert confirmed to the Cyprus Mail yesterday that there is no legal basis for denying the rights of EU nationals to vote in municipal elections:
“Member states have to transpose the acquis communautaire by their respective deadlines and the deadlines for Cyprus was accession,” he said, adding that “there can be no excuse” if they have not yet done so.

He added that the government cannot claim any exemption because this happens to be a by-election or because only the mayor is being elected. “By May 1, 2004, everything should have been in place. EU nationals have the right to participate in municipal elections regardless of the fact that those elections are not run in order to represent any representative council but only a mayor.”

The Brussels expert said that anyone in Cyprus who felt their electoral rights were being violated should lodge a complaint with Brussels or with the EU delegation in Cyprus.

He said Brussels “would investigate such a complaint very seriously”.

DISY and EDEK yesterday condemned an ultra-nationalist group believed to be behind the “barbaric” beating of a Turkish and a Greek Cypriot at a Nicosia caf? on Friday evening.

Police arrested a 28-year-old former police officer in connection with the incident. He was remanded in custody for four days on Saturday.

The man is thought to be a member of the Cyprus branch of Greek ultra-nationalist party Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn).

According to reports, the two men, who were with a group of other friends, were attacked and beaten after it transpired that one of them was Turkish Cypriot.

The suspect and those with him then left the caf?.

Police, who were notified immediately, managed to track down and arrest the suspect at his home in the early morning hours of Saturday.

However, the suspect is understood to be presenting the incident as a misunderstanding, which had nothing to do with the fact that one of the victims was a Turkish Cypriot.

According to one source, he claims the two groups were sitting next to each other at the caf?; the others were speaking in English and at one point the Greek and Turkish Cypriot pointed and laughed towards the suspect and his friends, sparking the altercation.

Reports said the suspect asked them why they were speaking in English and he was told it was because their friend – the Turkish Cypriot – was Lebanese.

It is understood that the suspect will claim he did not know the man was a Turkish Cypriot.

A police spokesman told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that no further arrests were expected.
An eyewitness to the incident yesterday refused to speak.

The suspect is expected to be charged with assault and inflicting actual bodily harm.
DISY yesterday urged the government to look into the incident without delay and take all necessary action to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

The opposition party said it was concerned by the “Nazi organisation’s” recent activity and charged the government with showing unacceptable tolerance towards it.

EDEK described Chrysi Avgi as a racist and fascist organisation, which offended the democratic feelings of the people.

“It cultivates a climate of chauvinism, blind fanaticism, xenophobia and racism,” a party statement said.
The party condemned the “barbaric and racist” attack, adding that it had submitted the matter for discussion in parliament.

Chrysi Avgi claims to be a popular nationalist movement, which puts the national interest above all.

According to its website, it is against globalisation and the repression of society’s weaker groups while it claims to protect the people’s interests and social justice.

Its symbol is based on the Nazi swastika.

THE QUESTION of long-term migrants who come to Cyprus for a better life is a controversial one, as a recent Cyprus College survey revealed.

More than half those asked said the biggest problem they feared for the next decade was foreign labour.

Migrants who are legally here have enough problems trying to extend their permits until the government adopts the EU directive that will give them the right to stay on permanently.
For those who find themselves on the wrong side of the law, there is less hope.

The President of KISA (Action for Equality, Support and Antiracism) Doros Polycarpou told the Sunday Mail of one such family.

“There is a family from Syria who have been living here for 14 years, the first four legally. Once their permits expired, they stayed on. They have four children; the oldest was six, and the youngest just two months, when they first moved here. They all go to school here, and the younger ones don’t even speak Arabic.

“They lived like Cypriots and were well-loved within the community of Kato Polemidia. Last week, they were arrested after police stopped their car to check their lights and found they were illegally here,” said Polycarpou.

Although the deportation order against the family has been suspended temporarily, the father and the two eldest sons, aged 20 and 17, are being held in police holding cells.

“The 16-year-old was arrested and then released, so why then do they insist on holding the 17-year-old who is also a minor?” asked Polycarpou.

The wife and children then had problems getting permission to visit the father and two sons. “We got involved, and police agreed to allow the visit, but the next day they were moved from Limassol to Larnaca police holding cells. We got them a lawyer who went to visit them in Larnaca. Again, police wouldn’t allow him to see them until they moved them for a second time, this time to Aradhippou station,” said the KISA President.

“The sad thing is the family hasn’t left Cyprus since they arrived. All their friends are from the village. One of the kids even passed the entrance exam to a Greek university but couldn’t go because he didn’t have any papers to leave the country.”

Polycarpou thinks KISA could argue here that deporting them would constitute a violation of children’s rights.

“The international convention on children says that you must take all decisions in the best interests of the children’s future. This is more important than the fact that the adults were illegally here,” he said.