Human rights in Switzerland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Switzerland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Switzerland

Constitution Federal Council (members) Moritz Leuenberger (Pres. 06) Pascal Couchepin (VP 07) Samuel Schmid Micheline Calmy-Rey (Pres. 07) Christoph Blocher Hans-Rudolf Merz Doris Leuthard Federal Chancellor (list) Federal Assembly Council of States (members) National Council (members) Political parties Elections 2003 - 2007 Voting in Switzerland Federal judiciary Federal Supreme Court Federal Insurance Court Federal Criminal Court Federal Administrative Court Cantons Foreign relations Human rights

Other countries • Politics Portal view • talk • edit

Human rights are comprehensively guaranteed in Switzerland, one of Europe's oldest democracies. Together with other European states, Switzerland is often at or near the head in international civil liberties and political rights rankings.^[1]

As with many other Western states, Amnesty International reports some cases of abuse, mostly involving the use of supposedly excessive force by the police of some cantons against foreigners. Amnesty's 2005 report^[2] says (of the the Swiss police) that "[t]here were regular reports of ill-treatment, often accompanied by racist abuse. Police accountability mechanisms were unsatisfactory and such abuses were often committed with impunity."

Switzerland is signatory to all relevant international human rights instruments. It is also the depositary state of the Geneva Conventions and the birthplace of several human rights-related NGOs including the Red Cross. The United Nations Human Rights Council, of which Switzerland is a member and which it was instrumental in establishing,^[3] has its seat in Geneva. Respect for human rights and the promotion of democracy is also one of the five official foreign policy goals of Switzerland.^[4]

[edit] References

• Human Rights Watch webpage on Switzerland
• Amnesty International annual report on Switzerland, 2005
• U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices on Switzerland, 2005
• IFEX: Freedom of expression in Switzerland
• Privacy International: Privacy and Human Rights 2003: Switzerland
• Human rights policy of the Swiss federal government

[edit] Footnotes