A/HRC/7/46 page 8 23. Difficulties persist in finding an agreement on issues involving religious sites and buildings. Following a meeting on 21 February 2007 between H.E. Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of Nova Justina and All Cyprus and Ahmet Yönlüer, the head of religious affairs in the north, where mutual commitment was expressed to take practical steps to promote respect and efforts towards restoration of sites of religious significance of the other community, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General engaged with the two sides to establish lists of sites of religious significance to the other community which were in need of restoration and repair. Regrettably, the Secretary-General noted that those efforts had failed to yield concrete results (S/2007/699, para.30). 24. In southern Nicosia Central Prison, Turkish Cypriot prisoners alleged to have been subject to collective punishment following the attempted breakout of two Turkish Cypriot prisoners in May 2007. Pending an independent investigation by the Cyprus Police, all Turkish Cypriot prisoners in the open prison regime were transferred back to the higher security regime on the grounds of potential involvement in the attempted escape. Three out of five prisoners have since been returned to the open prison regime. 25. In the area of economic rights, a positive development was the start of the implementation of the European Council regulation of February 2006, establishing an instrument of financial support for encouraging economic development in the northern part of the island, where overall economic opportunities remain comparatively limited. Its implementation, however, has faced challenges owing to the difficulty in ensuring cooperation between the two communities.12 III. CONCLUSION 26. The persisting de facto partition of the island of Cyprus continues to constitute an obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights. The situation of human rights in Cyprus would therefore greatly benefit from the achievement of a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. ----- 12 Annual report 2006-2007 on the implementation of Community assistance under Council Regulation (EC) No 389/2006 of 27 February 2006 establishing an instrument of financial support for encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot Community, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, Brussels, 18.09.2007, COM (2007) 536 final.