Switzerland and international solidarity
Switzerland criticised for lack of international solidarity
Switzerland
has been criticised by human rights organisation Amnesty International for
showing too little solidarity with poorer countries, for adopting “draconian”
anti-terrorism laws and for its rights-limiting response to Covid-19.
“Between
March and June, the government ruled by emergency powers in response to the
Covid-19 pandemic, impacting a range of rights,” it wrote in its annual
reportExternal link for 2020/21, published on Wednesday.
“At the
start of the pandemic, the police lacked clear guidelines to implement
emergency measures and disproportionately limited protesters’ right to freedom
of peaceful assembly by imposing blanket bans on demonstrations in public and
handing out fines in certain cantons.”
But from a
human rights perspective, Amnesty regretted above all governments taking their
eye off the bigger picture.
“We can
only break this impasse by working together internationally. The G-20 countries
and international financial institutions must offer debt cuts for the poorest
countries so that they can cope with the pandemic,” said Alexandra Karle,
executive director of the Swiss section of Amnesty International.
The richer
countries must ensure that everyone in the world has rapid access to vaccines,
free of charge, she said. “Pharmaceutical companies should share their
knowledge. Switzerland, too, should show more solidarity in the pandemic and
abandon its resistance to a temporary relaxation of intellectual property rules
for Covid-19 vaccines.”
In its
chapter on Switzerland, Amnesty International also denounced the government’s
unwillingness to accept a larger number of refugees from the Greek islands,
“although several major cities offered relocation places”.
The human
rights organisation also criticised the “draconian” anti-terror laws passed by
parliament in September, which, according to the government, aim to prevent
extremist violence and organised crime, but, according to Amnesty,
“pre-emptively restrict a person’s liberty without charge or trial, and include
a vague and overly broad definition of ‘terrorism’”.
Better marks
It’s not
all criticism, however. Amnesty also noted that parliament had voted in favour
of introducing same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples will now have the same
rights as heterosexual couples with the exception of certain restrictions
concerning sperm donation.
In
addition, hate speech legislation was extended to criminalise advocacy of
hatred and discrimination based on sexual orientation, following a referendum
in favour of the change.
In November
the nationwide vote on the Responsible Business Initiative, which called for
mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence for multinational
companies doing business abroad, was rejected by the cantons, although it won
the majority of the popular vote.
“This was
the first time that the voters of any country had said yes to this kind of
mandatory due diligence,” Amnesty said.
Source:
swiss info
