Human Rights News Switzerland
In July 2017, the Service for Combating Racism (SCRA) published its online legal guide on issues of racial discrimination which provides a great overview of how to combat discrimination in various areas such as working life and neighbourhood issues. It is...
On 28 June 2017, the Federal Council presented the Swiss state report on the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council. The Federal Council issued a media release stating “the report gives an overview of the...
Since Art. 20 of the Asylum Act (AsylA) was cancelled in September 2012, it is no longer possible to apply for asylum at Swiss embassies abroad. Only requests for humanitarian visas will be processed according to the Ordinance on Entry and the Granting of...
On 9 June 2017, the NGO Platform Human Rights published a discussion paper titled “Where is the coherence? Human Rights and Swiss Foreign Policy”. The forty-page discussion paper will be presented for debate during the NGO’s AGM in Bern...
In its special session in May 2017, the National Council followed the Council of States and ratified the 2011 Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, commonly referred to as the Istanbul...
Nils Muižnieks, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, visited Switzerland as part of his periodic country visits between 22 and 24 May 2017. On the first day, Muižnieks had three sessions of talks with representatives of various NGOs...
Occasionally cases surface in which Swiss corporations are involved in child labour. Recently, the LafargeHolcim Group, was found to be working with companies from Uganda that employ children. A number of NGOs have demanded that Switzerland establishes...
In Switzerland, around 14,700 women and girls are affected by or threatened with female genital mutilation (FGM). They have a right to protection and support. For the first time, a nationwide Swiss platform is providing key information for those affected...
The deadline for civil society reports was 30 March 2017 and the third cycle of monitoring the human rights situation in Switzerland as part of the UPR procedure of the UN Human Rights Council has started. Report by the NGO Platform Human Rights A...
