Announcement regarding an appeal by
individuals
to the International Criminal Court
Since 1974, Turkey has implemented a systematic policy of
colonization of the occupied part of Cyprus, from which it expelled
approximately 170.000 Greek Cypriots, in an attempt to change the demographic
character of the island and create faits accomplis. This Turkish policy for the
alteration of the demography of Cyprus has been condemned by the General
Assembly, the Commission of Human Rights and the Council of Europe.
The policy of colonization is expressly prohibited by the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949 Relative to
the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Article 49 (6)), which
stipulates that the “Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts
of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
According to the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court (Article 8 (2) (b) (viii)), “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the
Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it
occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of
the occupied territory within or outside this territory” is a war crime.
In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes the initiative
of MEP, Mr Costas Mavrides, and Cypriots Against Turkish War Crimes to submit to
the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court a communication concerning
the settlement activity of Turkey within the territory of Cyprus, requesting the
Prosecutor to initiate, pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute, an
investigation into the crimes committed within the Court’s jurisdiction. The
Government of the Republic of Cyprus is at the Court’s disposal to provide
documentation on the colonization of the occupied area of Cyprus by Turkey.
