COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF SWITZERLAND'S REPORTS

CERD
60th session
5 March 2002
Morning







The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of the second and third periodic reports of Switzerland by hearing a Government delegation say that the handling of the issue of naturalization was not satisfactory and the Federal Government had drawn up a new law, which at present was in the hands of the federal legislators.

Responding to questions raised by the Committee members during the previous meeting, the Swiss delegation said that if the law was approved, the duration of residence required before the start of the naturalization process would be reduced from 12 to 8 years.

The delegation also said that progress had been made in the area of granting political asylum, and in some cantons the granting of political asylum had been associated with the granting of political rights within the canton. However, many cantons were still sceptical about granting political rights to foreigners, the delegation said.

Tang Chengyuan, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Switzerland, said it was good news that the delegation would be discussing the issue of the Islamic headscarf with different departments when it returned to the capital. He also said that the Swiss federal and cantonal political systems should allow for coordinated efforts in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and measures should be taken at the cantonal level to overlook their implementation.

Also taking part in the discussion were Regis de Gouttes, Kurt Jerndl, Patrick Thornberry, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr and Ion Diaconu.

The Committee will issue its final concluding observations on the reports of Switzerland during its current session, in the presence of a representative of that country.

Switzerland is among the 161 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and as such it must provide periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the initial report of Lithuania.


Response of Switzerland

In response to questions raised yesterday afternoon, the members of the Swiss delegation said that concerning the implementation of the Convention and other international treaties, although cantons could conclude treaties within their own competence, the Federal Government was responsible for external relations and international treaties. The cantons were expected to fulfil their responsibilities in implementing international treaties ratified by the Federal Government. The cantons had their own judicial control system but their activities were subject to federal monitoring with regard to the implementation of international treaties. The Federal Commission against Racism was created by the Government and its members were drawn up from various professions, the delegation said. The Commission advised the Government on matters of policies on the fight against racism and on measures to protect ethnic and national minorities. It also engaged in awareness-raising campaigns against anti-Semitism and racism. Although the Commission was not totally independent from the Government, its activities were independent. However, it did not fully meet the Paris Convention criteria on national human rights commissions. There were institutional barriers in Switzerland which did not allow the full independent functioning of such a commission because of the lack of the existence of a general law.

The Federal Commission was also working on the implementation of the Durban Declaration on the fight against racial discrimination, particularly concerning the situation of anti-black sentiments in Switzerland. There were anti-black and anti-asylum seeker sentiments in the country and the Federal Commission was aware of this. The full implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action by Switzerland would be instrumental in tackling the problem. Switzerland was also interested in publishing the Declaration and distributing it widely so that everyone could read the text.

Concerning assistance to victims of racial discrimination, the delegation said that the law did not specify assistance to victims of racial discrimination; however, the law provided for legal assistance and compensation from the perpetrators. In general, victims of any violence could claim compensation for prejudice they were subjected to physically or mentally.

Switzerland had been ardent advocate of the freedom of people under racial domination and apartheid, the delegation said. During the existence of the apartheid system, it had never given credit or financial assistance to the then regime of South Africa. Switzerland had condemned the apartheid regime of South Africa at an early stage. Since South Africa had been liberated from apartheid, Switzerland had been collaborating with the current regime in all fields. Switzerland was also directing a programme of measures to promote peace by supporting South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Government of Switzerland was determined to help the future-oriented endeavours of South Africa and its development.

Preferential recruitment for employment and immigration in Switzerland had been intensified by the bilateral agreements between the Western European countries and EFTA countries, the delegation said. The new draft migrant law concerned all migrant workers and took into consideration bilateral agreements. The future law on migrants would allow those holding cantonal permits to change cantons whenever they wished to do so.

The so-called "three-circle" immigration policy of Switzerland, which classified foreigners according to their national origin and capacity for integration, had been abandoned in 1998, the delegation said. Workers were now recruited on a priority basis from countries of the European Union and EFTA, provided that there was no manpower available on the Swiss labour market. The withdrawal of Switzerland's reservation to article 2 (1) (a) of the Convention might be reconsidered when the situation of nationals of third world States was settled with the entry into force of the bilateral agreements with the European Union and the new law on foreigners.

The handling of the issue of naturalization was not satisfactory and the Federal Government had drawn up a new law, which at present was in the hands of the federal legislators, the delegation said. If the law was approved, there would be a reduction of the duration of residence from 12 to 8 years before the naturalization process started.

Progress had been made in the area of granting political asylum, the delegation said. In some cantons, the granting of political asylum had been associated with granting of political rights within the canton. However, many cantons were still sceptical about granting political rights to foreigners.

There were 30,000 travellers in Switzerland, the delegation said. The Federal Council had established two institutions to defend the culture and rights of the travelling people. The resting place and education of those people was given special emphasis; and training programmes had been provided for the children of the travellers. Switzerland had not ratified ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples; however, there was report of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs on the advisability of Switzerland acceding to this Convention.

All cantons had provisions according to which complaints against police brutality were lodged, the delegation said. In the canton of Geneva, for example, 715 cases of forced police interventions had taken place in 1999. There was a body that monitored and proposed corrective methods in police training. For the whole of Switzerland, police training in human rights had been provided. Last year, a manual had been published and distributed to all police officers in the country.

Any asylum seeker was not allowed to work during the first three months of his or her arrival in the country, the delegation said. Asylum seekers were assisted in cash and in kind. Some cantons restricted the choices of asylum seekers in matters of assistance. In order to expand employment rights of asylum seekers, the federal authorities were expected to increase their subsidies to the cantons; and a law in that respect was being drafted.

The Swiss Constitution stipulated that every child should go to school, the delegation said. The establishment of separate classes for foreigners in some cantons had been condemned by the Federal Government which discouraged such a schooling system. It advocated the educational integration of foreign children and their training in school programmes. The right to education was applied to all without distinction.

Asked about the prohibition of the Islamic headscarf, the delegation said that the Federal Court had given its opinion saying that internal beliefs could not be restricted while externally manifested beliefs could be restricted. The prohibition of the wearing of headscarf by Muslim women in schools was to respect the neutrality of educational centres and to protect the integrity of all students.

Responding to the question of Islamophobia, the delegation said that due to the restriction of land, the wishes of the Islamic community concerning places of burial had not been fully satisfied. However, discussions were underway, and some cantons had amended their legislation to satisfy the Islamic beliefs. The Federal Commission against Racism had taken measures towards improving the situation in that regard and it was taking preventive measures to avoid any slide toward Islamophobia.

Following the response of the Swiss delegation, Committee members raised follow-up questions on such issues as the Swiss reservation on admission of foreigners; the establishment of a national human rights commission; stopping of black people by police; and the wearing of the Islamic headscarf, among other things.

The delegation said that efforts would be made to establish a national human rights commission as required by the Paris Convention on the issue.

Switzerland was discussing the status of foreigners and was engaged in negotiations on the issue of its reservation on article 2 (1) (a) of the Convention. The lifting of the reservation would be given due consideration when the circumstances allowed it, added the delegation.

Switzerland was closely following the court decision handed down with regard to the Islamic headscarf, the delegation said. Although there was freedom of religion in the country, the question of showing one's beliefs to others might not be familiar in the society, as in the case of wearing an Islamic headscarf. The Government would further deal with the issue in its next report.

Checking people's identity was related to crimes of drug trafficking, the delegation said. In some cantons, such measures were carried out regularly, while in others, identity checks were done when people were caught red-handed.

In conclusion, Tang Chengyuan, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Switzerland, said it was good news that the delegation would discuss the issue of the Islamic headscarf with different departments when it returned to the capital.

The Swiss federal and cantonal political systems should allow for coordinated efforts in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and measures had to be taken at the cantonal level to overlook their implementation, he said.




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