MISSING PERSONS COMMITTEE'S FIRST REMAINS HANDOVER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000506 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, IO/UNP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV UN CY TU SUBJECT: MISSING PERSONS COMMITTEE'S FIRST REMAINS HANDOVER DAYS AWAY REF: A. EMBASSY NICOSIA-EUR/SE EMAILS OF 04/03/07 ¶B. 04/30/07 ¶C. 06 NICOSIA 925 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Genetics testing and anthropological investigations have positively identified the remains of 29 Cypriots who went missing between 1963 and 1974, according to UN Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) International Member Christophe Girod. CMP staff will notify families beginning June 24, with remains handovers occurring shortly thereafter. Preferring a lay-low approach in deference to relatives' wishes for privacy, the CMP has made no effort to "prepare the ground" for positive treatment by Greek- and Turkish Cypriot media and opinion leaders, a decision Girod acknowledged could backfire. On the political/diplomatic front, UN Chief of Mission Michael Moller has urged the two communities' representatives not to milk the handovers for political gain; Girod hoped that ambassadors would repeat Moller's message in their regular contacts. END SUMMARY. -------------- Into the Home Stretch....Finally -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The last nine months have seen the CMP's predictions for the commencement of remains handovers slip and slip again (Refs). To gauge the Committee's progress -- in recent communications with the diplomatic community, it claimed the first tranche was set for late June -- PolChief June 12 called on International Member Girod, a Swiss formerly with the International Committee of the Red Cross. Visibly upbeat, Girod reported that CMP anthropological and genetic teams had concluded comparisons of 30 sets of remains, corroborating results on 29. By June 14, the CMP would stamp them "official." He praised the scientists' recent work, as CMP members had expected no more than 12 positive IDs from the skeletal fragments gathered so far. ¶3. (U) Aided by the communities' CMP representatives, Greek Cypriot Elias Georgiades and Turkish Cypriot Gulden Plumer, Girod had penned a scenario for the first tranche of handovers. The Committee would select 10 cases, five G/Cs and five T/Cs, and begin the notification process June 24. Georgiades would brief G/C family members, with Plumer handling notifications in the north; psychologists would accompany both to provide assistance. Relatives could choose later to visit the temporary CMP "Family Reception Center" for viewings and could arrange for transfer of remains on the spot. Plumer had suggested that most Turkish Cypriots would opt for this route, as Muslim religious practice allowed for near-immediate burials; Orthodox practices differed greatly, Girod noted, meaning that many families might have to collect the effects well after the initial viewing. ¶4. (U) Girod would attend the first viewings, accompanied by the respective community representative. CMP technical staff also would be available to answer questions on the investigation, exhumation, and identification process. Finally, the Committee would prepare for relatives a factual report on the facts surrounding the find and on the conditions of remains. While the document could employ language such as "the cranium contains a 1-centimeter hole consistent with a close-range gunshot," it explicitly could not attribute cause of death, as that would exceed the CMP's 1981 UN mandate. -------------- Little Effort to Sway Opinion -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Girod acknowledged that G/C and T/C authorities, as well as the general public, lacked awareness of the handover process. Nonetheless, the CMP had opted against a forward-leaning media approach. It hoped to conduct the first family notifications low-key and in private, since respect for relatives' privacy was paramount. The notifications would not stay secret for long, Girod admitted, envisioning "Inside Edition-" type journalists showing up on family members' doorsteps hours afterward. Also worrisome was the possibility -- or even likelihood -- that certain survivors might hold up their relatives' deaths as proof of the other side's barbarism, and in so doing further damage hopes for inter-communal dialogue and rapprochement. Cognizant of this potentially negative turn, Eliades and Plumer were urging him not to select the first ten cases at random, but rather from a pool of missing whose relatives were known to hold moderate views. Girod planned to honor their request, although in future public comments the first NICOSIA 00000506 002 OF 002 tranche would remain a random sample. ¶6. (SBU) The sides' representatives, more than himself, were responsible for relations with their communities and "governments," Girod added. Once the handover process commenced, he expected their visibility and workload to skyrocket. Ensuring that leaders in respective communities continued to support the CMP's work and respect its neutrality and apolitical nature was vital, he insisted. Local UN chief Michael Moller had delivered the same message in recent meetings with negotiators Tasos Tzionis and Rashid Pertev; Girod hoped that resident ambassadors would echo Moller's points whenever possible. ZIMMERMAN