A/HRC/22/18 and instructed its President to forward the declaration to the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the Governments of European Union member States and Turkey, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The latest report of the SecretaryGeneral on the United Nations operation in Cyprus (S/2012/507, para. 9) reiterates that the United Nations holds the Government of Turkey responsible for the status quo in Varosha. E. Freedom of religion and cultural rights 35. According to article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, which includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. 29 Furthermore, according to article 27, everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts as well as to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.30 36. Access to sites and icons of religious and cultural significance continues to be facilitated by UNFICYP. During the reporting period, the mission facilitated 36 religious and commemorative events, involving 7,224 individuals, which were either held in or required crossing of the buffer zone. UNFICYP also continues to monitor the welfare of Turkish Cypriots in the south, including with regard to access to places of worship, such as the Hala Sultan Tekke mosque near Larnaca.31 37. The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief addressed the current situation of different religious communities and the impact of the Cyprus conflict on freedom of religion or belief in his mission report (A/HRC/22/51/Add.1, paras. 33–57). With regard to the Greek Orthodox minority in the northern part of the island, he referred to various issues of concern, including derelict and looted churches, acts of vandalism vis-àvis tombstones and crosses, the recent flattening of a cemetery in Trachoni village, alleged restrictions on holding religious services in churches in Agia Triada and Angastina in June and October 2012, as well as the destruction or sale of ecclesiastical vessels. Members of the Maronite minority in the northern part also raised issues of ongoing restrictions, such as lack of regular access to some of their traditional churches and monasteries which are located in military compounds, the recent looting of one of their traditional churches and cases of surveillance by the de facto authorities. While no members of the Latin and Armenian communities currently reside in villages in the northern part, the Special Rapporteur strongly recommended that the Armenian Church and Monastery complex in the north of Nicosia, which have been restored since July 2012 with funding coming from the international community, will in the future be used also for religious purposes and be accessible to the Armenian community. However, in a joint press release of 2 November 2012, the United Nations Development Program-Action for Cooperation and Trust and the United States Agency for International Development expressed serious concerns that the Evkaf administration (in charge of religious foundations and related issues) had leased the site through a tender process that was neither fair nor transparent; the Turkish Cypriot 29 30 31 12 See also article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (General Assembly resolution 36/55). See also article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. S/2012/507, para. 17; information received from UNFICYP.