A/HRC/7/46 page 3 Annex REPORT OF THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ON THE QUESTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CYPRUS I. Overview 1. As at December 2007, Cyprus remained divided, with a buffer zone maintained by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The UNFICYP mandate, which dates back to 1964, has been extended by successive Security Council resolutions. By its resolution 1789 (2007), the Council extended the mandate for a further period ending 15 June 2008. II. Human rights concerns 2. The persisting division of Cyprus has consequences in relation to a number of human rights issues on the whole island, including freedom of movement, human trafficking activities, discrimination, property rights, human rights pertaining to the question of missing persons, the right to education, economic rights and freedom of religion. 3. With regard to freedom of movement, Cypriots on both sides continued to use the crossing points for various activities, including trade, religious and bicommunal events, without major incidents. UNFICYP has recorded approximately 14 million crossings since the opening of the crossing points on 23 April 2003.1 4. No agreement was reached on the opening of additional crossing points. While both sides proposed further openings across the buffer zone, including Ledra street, lack of trust between the communities continued to pose a problem. Both leaders recently presented confidence-building proposals, which attached priority to the opening of Ledra street and also their respective approaches on the opening of a crossing in the western part of the buffer zone. 5. Restrictions on the freedom of movement persist, in particular with regard to the military zones in the northern part of the island. Since the previous reporting period, there has been no positive change with regard to increased access to a number of villages located in these zones, including the Maronite villages of Ayia Marina and Asomatos. 6. In general, there has been a greater appreciation for the work of bicommunal groups to promote collaboration between the two sides and for the bicommunal contacts made by civil society organizations. The institutional environment in the Republic of Cyprus, however, continues to pose constraints on the functioning of these 1 The figure does not include crossings in Pergamos since 1 September 2006, when the Turkish Cypriot side discontinued sharing statistics on the movement of people at that crossing.