A/HRC/28/20 Punishment.20 The Committee also recalled that judicial remedies must always be available to victims, as should all evidence concerning acts of torture or ill-treatment upon the request of victims, their legal counsel or a judge. 21 It noted that the mandate of the bicommunal Committee on Missing Persons was limited to looking into cases of Cypriots reported missing, without attempting “to attribute responsibility for the deaths of any missing persons or make findings as to the cause of such deaths”,22 and that the Committee on Missing Persons was also not empowered to grant redress to the relatives of the missing persons. 22. In August and September 2014, the European Court of Human Rights handed down decisions of inadmissibility in three cases regarding Turkish Cypriots who had disappeared during the events in 1963-64 and 1974. The cases, which had all been lodged by relatives who complained about the ineffectiveness of the investigations by the government authorities, were rejected as the Court considered the complaints to be premature, given that investigations were under way.23 B. Non-discrimination 23. According to article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. 24 Furthermore, all are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of the Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. 24. As at March 2014, there were as many as 212,400 internally displaced persons living in the part of the island controlled by the Government of Cyprus, including children born in displacement.25 When compared with previous years, the number of internally displaced persons remained more or less unchanged. In July 2014, the Human Rights Committee asked the Government of Cyprus to indicate the measures taken to ensure that children of women with internally displaced status are given the same status and benefits as children of men with internally displaced status, including with regard to voting rights, social benefits and housing assistance.26 Part of the relevant legislation was amended in December 2013, resulting in the recognition of displaced person status for the children of female displaced persons; however, the amendment applies only to certain housing schemes and benefits and does not give access to the same voting rights awarded to children of male displaced 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 8 CAT/C/CYP/CO/4, para. 21 and CAT/C/GC/3, para. 17. CAT/C/GC/3, para. 30. See CAT/C/CYP/CO/4, para. 21 and the Terms of Reference of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (available from www.cmp-cyprus.org/about-the-cmp/terms-of-reference-and-mandate/), para. 11. European Court of Human Rights, Gencer and Cebic v. Cyprus and Mülazim and Others v. Cyprus (applications nos. 28194/11 and 6037/13), decision of 26 August 2014; Ahmet Asir and Others v. Cyprus (application no. 10841/12), decision of 23 September 2014; and Davut Cakicisoy and Others v. Cyprus (application no. 6523/12), decision of 23 September 2014. See also International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 26. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Norwegian Refugee Council, Global Overview 2014 – People internally displaced by conflict and violence, Geneva, May 2014 (available from www.internal-displacement.org/assets/publications/2014/201405-global-overview-2014-en.pdf), p. 48. CCPR/C/CYP/Q/4, para. 6. See also A/HRC/25/21, para. 21, and CEDAW/C/CYP/CO/6-7, paras. 3334.