Explanations for the problems arising from the possible removal of the patronymic and matronymic from the political identity card, was given on Monday by the Minister of Interior, Nikos Nouris, before the members of the Human Rights Committee, who discussed the issue again.
During the session, the minister in charge referred to "objective difficulties", since, as he explained, the system cannot separate the information from the register in the documents of the Republic of Cyprus.
He further explained that any information deleted from this register[/B] would be simultaneously[/B] deleted from the political identities, to note that "this is not desirable", since according to him such information cannot be deleted only from the identities without being deleted from the electronic register.
He also noted that the data in the register and by extension the data in the identity card policy ensure security in transactions, and added that it provides additional information for the identification of the individual.
The meeting of the Human Rights Committee was attended by the Commissioner for Child Protection, Despo Michailidou, the Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights Protection, Maria Stylianou-Lottidi, the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, Irene Loizidou-Nikolaidou, and representatives from the Police.
Moreover, at the beginning of the session, the President of the Committee, Irini Charalambidou, and the other members, condemned the targeting of DISY MP Savvia Orphanidou, during the examination of the issue in the previous session, while the Vice President of the Democratic Rally, Harris Georgiades, who participated in the session, expressed his party's support for Ms. Orphanidou.
In his statements after the meeting, Mr. Nouris said that this issue "is a matter of substance, it is not rudimentary", explaining that "there are specific structures, specific computerized systems, which today provide specific information both to the citizens and to the competent services of the state and the recording of specific data on identity cards is considered by the Ministry of Interior as extremely helpful, for transaction issues, for security issues, for police issues".
"It is extremely important that the specific data are also used for the attribution of refugee status even for matrilineal refugees and the identification of Turkish Cypriots who come to the authorities of the Republic to carry out several transactions."
Therefore, he added "despite the fact that it is an inalienable right of the Parliament to possibly decide otherwise, nevertheless we have explained that it is important to maintain these particular elements and of course any possible possible change that may occur we have informed that it cannot occur without the necessity of differentiating the contracts, that the State has with the contractors of the computer system, which implies significant costs, but of course and time to be implemented".
Answering a related question, "there is no European directive that obliges us on the issues of inscription", noting that "it is up to the member countries and it is for this reason that, as I have explained, there are eight specific countries, among the European ones, that inscribe the details of the names of the father and mother on the identity cards, contrary to what had been heard in previous days that the implementation of this measure is universal in all European countries".
According to Nikos Nouris, "in the DR there is the possibility to leave the specific point blank, that is, in case there is no father, the point remains blank there," however, he added that the computerized system, which we currently have in operation, from the moment a piece of information is entered in the register the electronic system is transferred to the documents.
"In other words, there can be no deletion if there is no corresponding deletion from the register. And of course, the position of the Police, which has stated that it is not desirable to delete similar data from the electronic register[/B], because this will create security problems for the police, should be counted as extremely important," he added.
In relation to the current system operating in the DR, he said that any data deleted from this register will be simultaneously deleted from the civilian identity cards.
Asked to comment on what was said during the last session, during which it was said that "it is inhuman" to write "unknown father" on the identity card, Mr. Nouris clarified that "there is no such indication in any document of the Republic."
"I am unequivocal. What there is the possibility to do is to leave that particular mark blank when there is no father. Therefore, I answer clearly that the indication of unknown father does not exist in any document of the Republic of Cyprus."
Furthermore, he noted that proportionality should be taken into account when making any decision, adding that "in trying to satisfy a small part of the population, which faces some particularities, we should not disregard what the majority may want."
For her part, Commissioner for Administration and Protection of Human Rights, Maria Stylianou-Lottidi clarified that the omission of the father's name does not constitute discrimination against children, with the Commissioner for Child Protection, Despo Michailidou, expressing a contrary view, saying that "the way the Commissioner of Administration sees the issue - and it is her every right legally - is not child-centred, but restrictive".
Despo Michaelidou said her office's position over time has been that "even if a small group of children are victimized, targeted or have their dignity diminished, by not listing the father's name - in the case of an unknown father or other cases - then we should turn to find a solution."
"The positions that have been heard that as long as there is no violation of any right of the child either to education or to health, I do not agree with them," he said.
He also noted that "we should look at the issue in a child-centred way", adding that "the issue of naming is not a matter for the parents of the child's father or mother, but is a right of the child himself."
The President of the Committee, Irene Charalambidou, condemned in the strongest possible terms, "the targeting and the vicious attack that my colleague received in relation to this issue".
"It was immoral and dishonest to be publicly attacked," she said specifically.
In addition, he said that "there has been a lot of misinformation surrounding this issue, since the discussion of the issue in the Human Rights Committee was not at my initiative and support of my colleague, as reported by a journalist, but the issue had been raised since 2012, by the previous and then the current Commissioner for Children's Rights, who felt that a doubly vulnerable group of children were being stigmatised."
As Ms. Charalambidou "the former Chairperson of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, Stella Kyriakidou, in 2018 had raised the issue for discussion in Parliament", to note that "subsequently the current Commissioner shared correspondence with the Ministry of Interior, through which it appeared that a response from the Ministry of Interior was pending as to its intentions to study the issue and change the design of the type of ID cards in view of the issuance of the new ID cards in 2020".
According to Charalambidou, "the Commissioner informed that she had not received a response from the Ministry of Interior, which proceeded to issue the new ID cards with the same details, without actually taking any action to show that its concerns were taken into account and without submitting the financial and other studies to which the Ministry of Interior had committed before a parliamentary committee."
Today, he added, "in the presence of the Home Secretary it became apparent that the views of the representatives of the relevant departments, especially the police, as conveyed by the Home Office representative at the last session, were not accurate". The police, he said, "do not object to the removal of the names of the father and mother from the identity cards, as long as these are present in the computerised system so that a person's identity can be discerned when necessary."
Meanwhile, he said that despite the fact that the commitment of the Ministry of Interior was to submit the financial and technical study, for the redesign of the ID cards in 2020, this did not happen, so they are now waiting for a study to be submitted in view of the redesign for 2025.
Regarding some other aspects of the issue heard today, Charalambidou said that "we cannot have an adequate picture, since the relevant Commissioners were not in a position to give a meaningful position, since the relevant Ministry did not respond to their letters as denounced by the Commissioners themselves."
DISY MP Rita Superman said that "the essence of not stigmatising a child relates more broadly to the education of our society and not to whatever technical processes each state implements".
ELAM MP Sotiris Ioannou
said that his party says that "not only must the name of the father and mother be mentioned, since without mentioning them the sacred institution of the family is targeted and victimized, but additional elements such as the religion of each person must also be mentioned, otherwise we are beating and targeting our tradition and culture."
Source: CNA
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