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Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance

& Other Ill Treatment

In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to 2025                                          gvnet.com/torture/Switzerland.htm

Swiss Confederation (Switzerland)

Switzerland is generally free from war and the use of illegitimate force by authorities is relatively rare. Conditions in prisons and detention centers generally meet international standards, and the Swiss government permits visits by independent observers.  [Freedom House Country Report, 2018]

Description: Description: Switzerland

CAUTION:  The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Switzerland.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE

Students

If you are looking for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of particular interest to you.  You might be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the courtroom.  Perhaps your paper might focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures, starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing water.  On the other hand, you might choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who perpetrate such cruelty.  There is a lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.  Scan other countries as well as this one.  Draw comparisons between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions.  Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources that are available on-line.

*** ARCHIVES ***

2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Switzerland

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 30 March 2021

www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/switzerland/

[accessed 8 August 2021]

TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT

The constitution and law prohibit such practices. There were isolated reports that individual police officers used excessive force while making arrests and that prison staff engaged in degrading treatment of detainees. Impunity was not a significant problem in the security forces. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the country’s courts convicted 11 persons for abuse of authority in 2019.

In May the Federal Supreme Court ruled the detention conditions in the Champ-Dollon prison in Geneva violated the prohibition of torture according to the constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The court found that a prisoner was held in a small cell for 234 days between 2014 and 2016. The prisoner was only allowed to walk for one hour a day and to exercise for three-to-four hours a week.

Freedom House Country Report

2018 Edition

freedomhouse.org/country/switzerland/freedom-world/2018

[accessed 13 May 2020]

IS THERE AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY? - While the judiciary is largely independent, judges are affiliated with political parties and are selected based on a system of proportional party, linguistic, and regional representation in the Federal Assembly. In late 2017, a group of civil society leaders introduced an initiative to remove the party affiliation requirement from the judicial nomination process in an effort to strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

DOES DUE PROCESS PREVAIL IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL MATTERS? - Due process normally prevails in civil and criminal matters.

IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? - Switzerland is generally free from war and the use of illegitimate force by authorities is relatively rare. The occasional use of excessive force by police has been documented. The Universal Periodic Review of Switzerland’s human rights record, which was presented by the Swiss government to the United Nations in June 2017, documented some incidents of alleged excessive use of force against undocumented immigrants during the deportation process. Conditions in prisons and detention centers generally meet international standards, and the Swiss government permits visits by independent observers.

Conclusions and recommendations of the Committee against Torture

U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment  -- Doc. CAT/C/CR/34/CHE (2005)

www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=42cd71ce4

[accessed 8 March 2013]

4. The Committee expresses concern regarding the following:

(f) In spite of the increase in number of complaints filed against the police, often by persons of foreign origin, for ill-treatment, only a minority of these complaints result in prosecutions or indictments, and even fewer cases result in compensation for the victims or their families;

(g) All but one canton have failed to establish machinery to receive complaints against members of the police regarding allegations of torture or ill-treatment during arrest, questioning and police custody, in spite of a previous recommendation of the Committee in this regard;

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

From an old article -- URL not available

Article was published sometime prior to 2015

POLICE AND SECURITY FORCES - Allegations of ill-treatment by the police in the Canton of Geneva continued, including against minors, during or immediately after arrest. In October, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture recommended introducing improved training and reinforcing existing safeguards to combat ill-treatment by police.

Search … AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

For more articles:: Search Amnesty International’s website

www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=switzerland+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance

[accessed 14 January 2019]

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*** EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE ***

Human Rights Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 8, 2006

www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61678.htm

[accessed 12 February 2013]

2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61678.htm

[accessed 7 July 2019]

TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – The law prohibits such practices; however, there were reports of occasional use of excessive force by police authorities.

In October the cantonal government in Tessin suspended two policemen accused of robbing and verbally abusing several asylum-seekers. The cantonal prosecutor charged the two police officers of misusing their functions, theft, and breaching the antiracism law. A 2004 Amnesty International (AI) report highlighted several instances of police mistreatment of detainees, particularly foreigners, citizens of foreign origin, and asylum seekers.

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Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century- Switzerland", http://gvnet.com/torture/Switzerland.htm, [accessed <date>]