| United Nations |
S/2005/743/Corr.1 |
||||
 |
Security Council | Distr.: General
8 December 2005 Original: English |
|||
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON THE UNITED NATIONS
OPERATION IN CYPRUS
Corrigendum
Paragraphs 26-28
For the existing text, substitute
26. In the course of the reporting period, the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus held 20 meetings leading to progress on a number of issues. On
30 June, the Committee reached an agreement in principle on a common programme of exhumations and identification scheduled to begin during the spring of 2006. Another agreement was reached in September on the establishment in the buffer zone of an anthropological laboratory, where the remains collected on both sides will be stored. Once completed, the laboratory will be staffed by the Inforce Foundation Centre for Forensic Science Technology and Law, an agency based in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. On 11 November, the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus announced that should the preparations run as expected, the programme of exhumations and identification would begin during the spring of 2006. The project — which should be financed by voluntary contributions in order to meet all costs — is expected to last three or four years. It will be carried out under the aegis of the Committee, while the funds will be administered by the United Nations Development Programme. Expenses have so far been covered by funds provided by Greek Cypriots, Greece and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
27. For the programme of identification by DNA, the Committee will benefit from the cooperation of a department of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics. It has been agreed that the institute will be reinforced with the participation of two Turkish Cypriot scientists. Furthermore, a Turkish Cypriot laboratory is in the process of being upgraded for the programme of exhumations and identification. In July, the Committee appointed two scientific advisers, a Greek Cypriot scientist and a Turkish Cypriot scientist, to help with the implementation of the programme of identification by DNA of missing persons of both communities.
28. For about six weeks in the summer, the Committee undertook an emergency programme of exhumations in the north, under the supervision of an Inforce forensic expert, with positive results. Meanwhile, on 21 November, the Turkish Government pledged a financial contribution to the work of the Committee.
—————————————————————-