MISSING IN KYPROS 16/08/1974: ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΣ ΒΕΛΟΝΑΣ (DEMETRIOS VELONAS)

2014-03-16, 11:20, +2°C, Uppsala O 1 m/s Solen upp kl. 06:03 Solen ned kl. 17:53. Ἡλιόμαρ μᾶλλον αἲθριος, söndag halvklart klart, Sunday clear.

Demetrios Velonas, 1953, Military. 

Ιdentified: YES.

Γεννηθείς: Born:	Νέα Μανωλάς, Ἠλεία, Ἑλλάς Nea Manolas, Ileia, Hellas	Ἒτος γενν.: 1953 Year:
Τοποθεσία τελευταίας ἐπισημάνσεως καὶ χρονική στιγμή: Last Seen Place and date:	Ἑλληνικόν Στρατόπεδον-Λευκωσίας.  Greek Army Camp – Nicosia, 16/08/1974.	Ἀναγνώρισις: ΝΑΙ.------ Ιdentified: YES.
Τοποθεσία χρονική στιγμή Συλλήψεως:  Place and date of Arrest:	Ἑλληνικόν Στρατόπεδον-Λευκωσίας. Greek Army Camp – Nicosia, 16/08/1974.	Ἀναγνώρισις: ΝΑΙ.------  Ιdentified: YES.

Speculations

Some prisoner of a prison in eastern Turkey describe for a journalist that he had met a group of 4 or 5 persons like Demetrios Velonas and tre-foure others, in 2000 – 2004.

 

THE MISSINGS

http://www.missing-cy.org.cy/search.asp
 http://www.missing-cy.org.cy/index-3.html  

http://www.missing-cy.org.cy/ItemsForm.asp?ID=1345

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3OqerD0uiVc#t=148

THE HISTORY OF THE CASE

http://www.missing-cy.org.cy/historyEn.htm

Despite these allegations it was made possible under some opportune circumstances and through the help of the United Nations to trace eight missing persons altogether in prisons of occupied Cyprus where the Turks had been hiding them. Those cases were the following:

- On 20 November 1974 Georgios Kaizer from Kyrenia, Michael Frangopoulos from Bellapais, Michael Pontikou from Morphou, Cleanthis Charalambous from Lakatamia and Andreas Katsouris from Stylloi in Famagusta were located in the Seray Turkish prison and liberated.

- On 7 August 1975 Charalambos Moschovias from Achna was located and liberated after being held in the Seray Turkish prison at first and then in Kyrenia.

- On the same day, Stelios Gregorakis from Crete, who had managed to escape and was hiding in a cave in the Karpass area, was found and set free.

- On 25 October 1976 Lambros Plitsis from Larisa, Greece, was located in the Turkish jail of Omorphita and liberated.

The deadlock, to which the Turkish attitude had led the issue of the missing persons, obliged the United Nations Organization by special resolution to call for the setting up of an independent Investigation Committee. In 1977, the then UN Secretary General Kurt Weldheim suggested to the two sides the formation of an Investigation Committee. The Turkish side for four years refused to consent to the UN suggestion.

In 1981, Turkey under pressure from the international community, was obliged to agree to the establishment of the Committee. Thus, the Cyprus Committee of Missing Persons, known as CMP, came into being under the auspices of the General Secretary of the United Nations. The Committee is composed of three members, a representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, and one representative each from the two sides, the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot side. The mandate of the Committee is based on clearly humanitarian grounds and specifically stipulates that its aim is to investigate all the cases of missing persons in Cyprus, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, missing since the intercommunal troubles of 1963-64 and the Turkish invasion of 1974, and to inform the families concerned.

Unfortunately, the CMP remained inactive for more than two decades because the Turkish side did not cooperate. To the contrary, it used the Committee as an alibi, simply forcing it into futile discussions on procedural matters that ended in successive deadlocks. Thus a new long period of stalemate followed.

During this period there were various moves and protestations aimed at breaking Turkish intransigence and promoting the resolution of the issue. The American Congress, among others, took an interest in the missing persons of Cyprus passing a special legislation in October 1994, which asked for the conduct of an investigation into the whereabouts of American citizens missing since the Turkish invasion (note: There are five American citizens of Cypriot descent among the missing persons). In pursuance of the legislation, the United States government sent an investigation team to Cyprus and Turkey under the former American Ambassador Dillon. The efforts of the Dillon team succeeded in finding the remains of 17-year old American citizen Andreas Kassapis close to the occupied village of Assia; after their identification with the DNA method, they were handed over to his family at Detroit. This was the first discovery of a missing person and the first identification by the DNA method. Regarding the remaining American citizens that are missing, the Dillon report merely stated that according to the information gathered they should be presumed dead.

The identification of the remains of Andreas Kassapis by the Americans through the DNA method indicated the need for exhumations to get under way in areas, where according to information, people had been buried, and who might be on the missing persons list. So on 30 July 1997 the leaders of the two communities Clerides and Denktash at a meeting agreed for the two sides to exchange information on burials and to proceed to exhumations.

The then US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced the conclusion of the agreement. Unfortunately again, the Turkish side reneged and the agreement was never implemented. The Cyprus Government proceeded to implement the agreement unilaterally in the areas under its control. Thus it indicated the place where about 20 Turkish Cypriots who had been killed in the battle at Alaminos village in 1974 had been buried and invited the United Nations and the Turkish Cypriots to proceed jointly to exhumations. The Turkish Cypriot side responded that it was not interested in carrying out exhumations and so the site was fenced off and placed under police guard.

The Cyprus Government also proceeded to the exhumation and identification through the DNA method of about 200 persons, who had been killed in the Turkish invasion and were buried in the military cemetery of Lakatamia and the Saints Constantinou and Elenis cemetery in Nicosia, since it had not been possible to establish the identity of 74 of them; they were interred with the indication “unknown”. Specifically, 44 were buried with the indication “unknown – National Guard”, 26 with the indication “unknown – ELDYK” and 4 with the indication “unknown civilian.”

At the same time, measures continued to be taken in order to promote the issue in various directions. Efforts were made towards the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Committee for Peace and Security in Europe, Amnesty International, the Human Rights Committee of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, et. al.

Worth mentioning is the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights dated 10 May 2001 on the Cyprus v Turkey application No 25781/94 which held Turkey responsible for a series of violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court in its decision stressed the failure of Turkey to carry out an effective investigation into the fate of the missing persons and to inform their families accordingly, which constitutes inhuman and degrading treatment towards the relatives of the missing.

The issue of Turkey's non-compliance with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights is under consideration by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Council of Europe, which has not to date been satisfied that Turkey is sufficiently promoting an effective investigation into the matter; the Committee has therefore in its meetings of 7/6/2005 and 4/4/2007 approved two interim resolutions against Turkey.

Turkey changed its negative stance on the issue when negotiations got under way for its accession to the European Union. In June 2004, Turkey announced its readiness for the resumption of the work of the CMP. A few months later the CMP began its operation, confined to locating burials and carrying out exhumations without being extended to the crucial issue of the investigation; this should involve, amongst other things, free access to records and other information data that would help the investigation into the whereabouts of the missing.

Since 2004 the Committee of Missing Persons has been continuing its exhumation work. Exhumations are being undertaken on both sides with the remains of some 400 Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots having been discovered. Already more than100 missing persons have been identified through the DNA method and their families have been duly informed.

Our organization welcomes this development, which it considers a positive step in the right direction. However, parallel work should start on the substantial investigation of each missing person's case. It would greatly help towards this end if those who hold information and data, such as the Turkish army, which is known to have in its possession reports about the hostilities and events in Cyprus during 1974, made them available to U.N. bodies and to the International Red Cross, so that at long last the fate of every missing person and of all the missing persons in Cyprus, whether Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot, will be fully ascertained.

November 2008 THE ORGANISATION

PlatonAfHellas