Supreme Court awards €100,000 to family of those missing since 1974
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Chatzigeorgiou family and awarded €100,000, finding "material inaction" on the part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Unanimous condemnation of Republic of Cyprus for inaction in investigation of 1974 abduction
The Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in favour of the family of missing persons Loïzos and Giorgos Chatzigeorgiou, awarding total compensation of €100,000 against the Republic of Cyprus. According to Philenews, the Court overturned the first-instance decision that had rejected the case and explicitly recognised "material inaction" on the part of the competent authorities.
The two men were abducted from the village of Stroggylos on 15 August 1974 by Turkish Cypriot neighbours and citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. They have been missing since.
Violation of Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR
The Supreme Court found a violation of both Article 2 and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The obligation to conduct an effective investigation, the Court emphasised, arises from the moment a person disappears under circumstances dangerous to their life — and does not depend on the discovery or identification of their remains.
With this ruling, the Supreme Court overturned a central argument of the first-instance court, which had held that the State's obligation had not yet been triggered owing to the non-discovery of the remains.
Unarmed civilians, not a military incident
The Court stressed that the case cannot be treated as a typical disappearance in the context of the 1974 hostilities. The two missing persons were unarmed civilians abducted by armed civilians, not in the context of a military operation. This created an obligation for targeted investigation, including examination of possible criminal responsibility.
The Supreme Court also found that specific individuals allegedly involved in the abduction had appeared in free areas without substantial investigatory measures being taken. Neither political reasons, nor public interest, nor practical difficulties arising from the continued occupation could eliminate this obligation, the Court ruled.
With respect to Article 3, the Court recognised the family's years of anguish and mental suffering, ruling that the authorities' failure to provide substantive answers constitutes a violation of their rights.
Distribution of compensation
The awarded compensation of €100,000 is distributed as follows: €25,000 to the wife of Loïzos and mother of Giorgos Chatzigeorgiou, and €15,000 to each of the remaining five appellants.
The Court also emphasised that the work of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), important as it is from a humanitarian perspective, does not substitute for the obligation of the State itself to conduct an independent and effective investigation capable of leading to accountability.
Lawyer: "First decision of its kind at Supreme Court level"
The family's lawyer, Antonis Georgiou, characterised the decision as the first of its kind at Supreme Court level in Cyprus. According to him, the decision makes clear that when civilian non-combatants disappear under circumstances dangerous to their lives, the Republic bears an obligation of substantive investigation, even if their remains have not been located.
Georgiou stressed that the decision also has broader significance for the Cyprus issue, as it is reasonable to expect there may be other cases of missing persons with specific testimony regarding individuals allegedly responsible for criminal offences. "The political dimension of the Cyprus issue cannot by itself set aside the obligation to conduct effective investigation," he said.
He also posed a broader question: how will such pending cases be addressed within the framework of any future solution to the Cyprus issue, particularly where there is evidence of specific criminal offences and specific individuals involved.
"Most importantly, however, for this particular family, after decades there is now a clear judicial finding that the competent authorities failed to fulfil their obligation to conduct an effective investigation into the fate of the two missing persons," Georgiou concluded.
Lawyer Antonis Georgiou is a partner at the law firm Phoivos, Christos Clerides and Associates LLC.
Source: Philenews