the european commission of human rights with 12 votes against 1, accepted evidence from the republic of cyprus, concerning the rapes of various greek-cypriot women by turkish soldiers and the torture of many greek-cypriot prisoners during the invasion of the island. the high rate of rape resulted in the temporary permission of abortion in cyprus by the conservative cypriot orthodox church. according to paul sant cassia, rape was used systematically to "soften" resistance and clear civilian areas through fear. many of the atrocities were seen as revenge for the atrocities against turkish cypriots in 1963–64 and the massacres during the first invasion. it has been suggested that many of the atrocities were revenge killings, committed by turkish cypriot fighters in military uniform who might have been mistaken for turkish soldiers. in the karpass peninsula, a group of turkish cypriots, called a "death squad", reportedly chose young girls to rape and impregnated teenage girls. there were cases of rapes, which included gang rapes, of teenage girls by turkish soldiers and turkish cypriot men in the peninsula, and one case involved the rape of an old greek cypriot man by a turkish cypriot. the man was reportedly identified by the victim and two other rapists were also arrested. raped women were sometimes outcast from society.