ICBL Critique of Cyprus' Article 5 Deadline Extension Request

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Summary facts and figures

• The request is for 3 years until 1 July 2016
• Cyprus asserts jurisdiction, but does not have control, over the north of the island and is thus unable to fulfil its Article 5 clearance obligations

The situation on Cyprus
The Republic of Cyprus has undertaken to complete clearance of all areas under its effective control by its Article 5 deadline of 1 July 2013. Clearance of the buffer zone, apart from a small number of areas to which the United Nations (UN) was not given access, was completed two years ago. Cyprus recalls that at the time of its ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty, it had made it clear that it would not be able to implement Article 5 in its entirety, stating that there were mined areas in its territory which had been out of its effective control since 1974.

According to Cyprus, 20 (or 21; both figures are given) minefields laid by Turkish Forces in the north of the island are known not yet to be cleared of antipersonnel mines. Parts of some of those minefields fall in the buffer zone in the area west of Nicosia. In addition, Cyprus states that before and during the armed conflict in 1974, the National Guard of the Republic of Cyprus laid 28 minefields north of Nicosia towards the Pentadaktylos mountain range. These minefields included 1,006 antipersonnel mines, but it is not known whether these minefields have been cleared or not.

Observations
Under Article 5, any State Party that will still have by its deadline mined areas in territory over which it asserts jurisdiction but that it does not control should apply for an extension, given that the wording in Article 5 is “jurisdiction or control” (our emphasis). The UN Security Council, most recently in December 2011, has called on both sides to facilitate clearance of all remaining mined areas on the island. The UN has previously expressed a willingness to conduct clearance of the remaining mined areas, should it be given access to them by Turkish Forces.

Recommendations
Cyprus’s three-year extension request should be approved. Turkey should be called upon to facilitate clearance of all remaining mined areas as soon as possible.