VZCZCXRO2892
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNC #0506/01 1631406
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121406Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7908
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0870
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000506 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, IO/UNP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV UN CY TU
SUBJECT: MISSING PERSONS COMMITTEE'S FIRST REMAINS HANDOVER 
DAYS AWAY 
 
REF: A. EMBASSY NICOSIA-EUR/SE EMAILS OF 04/03/07 
 
     ¶B. 04/30/07 
     ¶C. 06 NICOSIA 925 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Genetics testing and anthropological 
investigations have positively identified the remains of 29 
Cypriots who went missing between 1963 and 1974, according to 
UN Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) International Member 
Christophe Girod.  CMP staff will notify families beginning 
June 24, with remains handovers occurring shortly thereafter. 
 Preferring a lay-low approach in deference to relatives' 
wishes for privacy, the CMP has made no effort to "prepare 
the ground" for positive treatment by Greek- and Turkish 
Cypriot media and opinion leaders, a decision Girod 
acknowledged could backfire.  On the political/diplomatic 
front, UN Chief of Mission Michael Moller has urged the two 
communities' representatives not to milk the handovers for 
political gain; Girod hoped that ambassadors would repeat 
Moller's message in their regular contacts.  END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Into the Home Stretch....Finally 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The last nine months have seen the CMP's 
predictions for the commencement of remains handovers slip 
and slip again (Refs).  To gauge the Committee's progress -- 
in recent communications with the diplomatic community, it 
claimed the first tranche was set for late June -- PolChief 
June 12 called on International Member Girod, a Swiss 
formerly with the International Committee of the Red Cross. 
Visibly upbeat, Girod reported that CMP anthropological and 
genetic teams had concluded comparisons of 30 sets of 
remains, corroborating results on 29.  By June 14, the CMP 
would stamp them "official."  He praised the scientists' 
recent work, as CMP members had expected no more than 12 
positive IDs from the skeletal fragments gathered so far. 
 
¶3.  (U) Aided by the communities' CMP representatives, Greek 
Cypriot Elias Georgiades and Turkish Cypriot Gulden Plumer, 
Girod had penned a scenario for the first tranche of 
handovers.  The Committee would select 10 cases, five G/Cs 
and five T/Cs, and begin the notification process June 24. 
Georgiades would brief G/C family members, with Plumer 
handling notifications in the north; psychologists would 
accompany both to provide assistance.  Relatives could choose 
later to visit the temporary CMP "Family Reception Center" 
for viewings and could arrange for transfer of remains on the 
spot.  Plumer had suggested that most Turkish Cypriots would 
opt for this route, as Muslim religious practice allowed for 
near-immediate burials; Orthodox practices differed greatly, 
Girod noted, meaning that many families might have to collect 
the effects well after the initial viewing. 
 
¶4.  (U) Girod would attend the first viewings, accompanied by 
the respective community representative.  CMP technical staff 
also would be available to answer questions on the 
investigation, exhumation, and identification process. 
Finally, the Committee would prepare for relatives a factual 
report on the facts surrounding the find and on the 
conditions of remains.  While the document could employ 
language such as "the cranium contains a 1-centimeter hole 
consistent with a close-range gunshot," it explicitly could 
not attribute cause of death, as that would exceed the CMP's 
1981 UN mandate. 
 
----------------------------- 
Little Effort to Sway Opinion 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Girod acknowledged that G/C and T/C authorities, as 
well as the general public, lacked awareness of the handover 
process.  Nonetheless, the CMP had opted against a 
forward-leaning media approach.  It hoped to conduct the 
first family notifications low-key and in private, since 
respect for relatives' privacy was paramount.  The 
notifications would not stay secret for long, Girod admitted, 
envisioning "Inside Edition-" type journalists showing up on 
family members' doorsteps hours afterward.  Also worrisome 
was the possibility -- or even likelihood -- that certain 
survivors might hold up their relatives' deaths as proof of 
the other side's barbarism, and in so doing further damage 
hopes for inter-communal dialogue and rapprochement. 
Cognizant of this potentially negative turn, Eliades and 
Plumer were urging him not to select the first ten cases at 
random, but rather from a pool of missing whose relatives 
were known to hold moderate views.  Girod planned to honor 
their request, although in future public comments the first 
 
NICOSIA 00000506  002 OF 002 
 
 
tranche would remain a random sample. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The sides' representatives, more than himself, were 
responsible for relations with their communities and 
"governments," Girod added.  Once the handover process 
commenced, he expected their visibility and workload to 
skyrocket.  Ensuring that leaders in respective communities 
continued to support the CMP's work and respect its 
neutrality and apolitical nature was vital, he insisted. 
Local UN chief Michael Moller had delivered the same message 
in recent meetings with negotiators Tasos Tzionis and Rashid 
Pertev; Girod hoped that resident ambassadors would echo 
Moller's points whenever possible. 
ZIMMERMAN