From 28 February to 10 March 2016, the United Nations Legal Counsel, Mr. Serpa Soares, visited Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon. In Cyprus, he visited the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and the Office of the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General (OSASG) for Cyprus at the invitation of Ms. Lisa Buttenheim, SRSG, Head of Mission and DSASG.

Visit to CYprus

On 28 and 29 February 2016, the Legal Counsel visited Cyprus. At UNFICYP Headquarters in Nicosia, he was briefed by SRSG and Head of Mission, Ms. Lisa Buttenheim,

and by Force Commander, Major General Kristin Lund, on current priorities and challenges of UNFICYP.

Legal issues on which the Office of Legal Affairs at UNHQ New York (OLA) is assisting the mission were also discussed. The mission arranged a highly interesting tour of the “Green Line” and the buffer zone. In the margins of the visit, Mr. Serpa Soares had the opportunity to meet with the Members of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) which identifies missing victims of the conflict and, thereby, performs an important role in assisting the communities in consolidating the peace process by establishing a neutral history of the conflict and the destiny of missing persons.