A/HRC/13/24 underlined the need for the Committee to have access to all information and places relevant to missing persons.12 9. On 18 September 2009, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) adopted a judgement in the case of Varnava and Others v. Turkey.13 The applications had been introduced before the Court in the name and on behalf of 18 Cypriot nationals, 9 of whom had disappeared during military operations carried out by the Turkish army in northern Cyprus in July and August 1974. The applicants alleged that their relatives had disappeared after being detained by Turkish military forces in 1974 and that the Turkish authorities had not accounted for them since. The Court concluded that there was a continuing violation of article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on account of Turkey’s failure to effectively investigate the fate of the 9 men who disappeared in 1974.14 The Court also concluded that there was a continuing violation of article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the ECHR, due to the length of time over which the ordeal of the relatives had been dragged out and official indifference in the face of their acute anxiety to know the fate of their close family members.15 The Court concluded that there was a continuing violation of article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the ECHR. 10. In the case of Cyprus v. Turkey concerning the question of missing persons, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ Deputies (CoE CMD) at its December 2009 session, took note with satisfaction of the information provided by the Turkish authorities on the progress of the work of the CMP and, in particular, on the measures taken to promote its acceleration. CoE CMD encouraged the Turkish authorities to take concrete measures to ensure the CMP had access to all relevant information and places, without impeding the confidentiality which is essential to the implementation of its mandate. Furthermore, CoE CMD invited the Turkish authorities to inform it of concrete measures that they could envisage in continuing the work of the CMP, with a view to ensuring that the effective investigations required by the judgement were undertaken.16 Property rights 11. As in previous years, property rights remain the main issue of concern. CoE CMD continues to supervise the execution of Court judgements on landmark property cases from previous years. In the case of Loizidou v. Turkey (1996), where the Court ruled that the 12 13 14 15 16 4 Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ Deputies Decisions adopted at the 1051st meeting, 19 March 2009, in the case of Cyprus v. Turkey (25781/94). On 10 January 2008, the Chamber issued its judgement, after which the case was referred to the Grand Chamber on 7 July 2008 at the request of the Turkish Government. The Court noted that the Turkish Government had not put forward any concrete information to show that any of the missing men had been found dead or had been killed in the conflict zone under their control, nor had there been any other convincing explanation as to what might have happened to them that could counter the applicants’ claims that the men had disappeared in areas under the exclusive control of the Turkish Government. The Court recalled its finding in the fourth inter-State case that in the context of the disappearances in 1974, where the military operation had resulted in considerable loss of life and large-scale detentions, the relatives of the missing men had suffered the agony of not knowing whether their family members had been killed or taken into detention. Furthermore, the Court also recalled that due to the continuing division of Cyprus, the relatives had been faced with very serious obstacles in their search for information and that the silence of the Turkish authorities in the face of those real concerns could only be categorized as inhuman treatment. The Court found no reason to differ from the above finding. Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ Deputies Decisions adopted at the 1072nd meeting, 1–3 December 2009, CM/Del/Dec (2009) 1072 on Cyprus against Turkey, 25781/94. GE.10-11644