Two years after the attack on the 2010 Rainbow Festival: Justice delayed for victims of racist violence and for KISA’s Executive Director

Open letter to Cyprus’ Ministry of Justice

23 November 2012

Dear Mr Louka,

Thank you for replying to our delegation’s letter of 6 June 2012, addressed to thePermanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Mr Stelios D. Himonas. This letter wassubmitted following the verdict of the Cypriot court acquitting Mr Doros Polycarpou,KISA’s Executive Director, of all criminal charges brought against him, following thetragic events at the 2010 Rainbow Festival on 5 November 2010 in Larnaca.

We appreciate your Ministry’s efforts of in keeping us abreast of the actions taken by theauthorities (letter received on 24 October 2012), in particular the administrativeinvestigation into the two police officers’ testimonies against Mr Polycarpou, who werefound to be unreliable witnesses by the judge.

We also welcome the transposition in Cypriot law of the EU Council Framework Decisionon combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means ofcriminal law. We hope that its implementation will help prevent discrimination inCyprus, and will ensure that events such as those witnessed at the 2010 RainbowFestival will not be repeated in the future.

However, despite these promising developments, and almost six months after thecourt’s verdict, we deeply regret that some of our concerns remain unaddressed:

1- In spite of the continuous rise of racism and racist violence in Cyprus over the pastfew years, the Ministry has not drawn up any proposals to tackle the rise of the far-rightmovement in the country. Cyprus still lacks an action plan to execute and coordinate its efforts in tackling this issue. We request clarifications from the Ministry as to whethermeasures have indeed been implemented to address this urgent matter.

2- Your letter refers to investigations into one complaint by Mr Polycarpou, althoughthree were lodged: one against an undercover police officer who brutalised MrPolycarpou; another against the General Secretary of KEA – The Greek ResistanceMovement (one of the organisers of the far-right march which attacked the RainbowFestival) for incitement to racial hatred; and, thirdly, one against the police force forfailing to protect the Festival from racist violence. At the time of writing, legalproceedings against the far-right leader are on-going, however, the “impartialinvestigation” bodies for police misconduct mentioned in your letter have so far notconducted any investigation into the other two complaints due to the on-going Courtproceedings, furthering the sense of impunity which has prevailed since these eventsoccurred.

3- The delegation welcomes the launch of an administrative investigation regarding thebehaviour of the two police officers who testified in Court and who were found to beunreliable witnesses. We would like clarifications from the Minister as to whether thisinvestigation will be carried out by an independent body. We also request a response asto why no disciplinary action has been taken against these two officers. Morespecifically, does the lack of disciplinary action imply that the two police officers, whosefalse testimony could have resulted in Mr Polycarpou’s imprisonment for three years,are considered innocent?

4- We strongly believe that the Court decision entails a clear questioning of the police’sview that Mr Polycarpou encouraged confrontation with the far-right marchers andtherefore reiterates the need for an independent investigation. Under thesecircumstances, our delegation wishes to know if the Minister is willing to re-examine thepossibility of an independent investigation into the police force’s behaviour before,during and after the racist attacks against the 2010 Rainbow Festival as well as thefailure of the police to protect the Festival participants from being attacked.Furthermore, we wish to know if any investigation has been launched regarding theracist crimes committed against individuals, including the Turkish Cypriot who wasstabbed and the Pakistani national who was seriously injured.

5- Finally, it appears that no preventive mechanism has been put in place to ensure thatthe rights of migrants, refugees, and human rights defenders are respected. Your letteronly mentions the possibility for victims of racist violence to lodge a complaint. Ourdelegation wishes to receive clarifications from the Ministry regarding the authorities’responsibility to ensure that everyone is free from discrimination and violence. Haveany specific measures been taken by the authorities to guarantee the safety of humanrights defenders and to protect them from political pressure and violence according tothe UN declaration for the protection of Human Rights Defenders?

Two years after the tragic events which occurred at the 2010 Rainbow Festival, ourdelegation remains concerned about the effectiveness of the anti-racism and anti-discrimination policy of the Cypriot authorities.

The police force’s decision not to interfere against the violent anti-migrants and far-rightmarch on 5 November 2010 and to allow their progression towards, and eventually theirattack on, Festival participants is worrying: it downplays the danger of far-rightmovements by treating them “equally” with peaceful supporters of migrant rights. Aneffective policy should comprise justice for victims of racist crimes and the end ofimpunity for those who participate in their perpetration, directly and indirectly.

We remain hopeful that the Ministry will take these issues seriously and urge theauthorities to:

- Ensure that an external independent investigation establishes who is responsible forthe extreme violence witnessed at the 2010 Rainbow Festival, and that sanctions areapplied in consequence;

- Ensure that an independent external investigation is carried out to establish why thepolice force was unable to prevent the attack against the Festival participants and thatdisciplinary procedures are taken against the police officers who participated in theviolence;

- Ensure that Mr Polycarpou receives compensation for the unfounded accusationsbrought against him and that the two police officers who testified are sanctioned forproviding the court with false and unreliable accounts;

- Commit to the implementation of the above mentioned Council Framework Decisionand to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and adopt concrete measures tomonitor and stop the rise of xenophobia and guarantee the protection of minoritygroups, migrants, refugees and human rights defenders against racist violence anddiscrimination;

- Uphold the rights of all victims of racist crimes and ensure proper compensation forthe persons seriously injured at the 2010 Rainbow Festival;

Yours sincerely,

Association Européenne des Droits de l’Homme (AEDH), Euro-Mediterranean Human RightsNetwork, European Network Against Racism (ENAR), Fahamu Refugee Legal AidProgramme, Front Line Defenders, Migreurop, Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT), Platform for International Cooperation on Human RightsDefenders (PICUM)