The House of Representatives on Thursday followed the Senate calling on the government to grant conditional opt-outs from UN sanctions.
Suspects should be taken off the blacklist if they haven’t had a trial within three years or if they haven’t been given a fair hearing, according to parliament.
The House approved the move despite opposition from Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey. She argued sanctions were binding for all UN members, adding that the UN had introduced reforms last year for the delisting procedures.
Senator Dick Marty, a renowned human rights expert who sponsored the motion, said Switzerland could be a champion of basic rights.
“Parliament gives another signal to reform the sanction system. I hope the decision will lead to further discussions in other countries and in the UN,” Marty told Swiss radio.
His motion was prompted by the case of an Egyptian-Italian banker, Youssef Nada, once suspected of having links to the militant al-Qaida movement.
Nada was only taken off the list at the end of 2009 after eight years. He repeatedly denied any connection with Islamic militants and claimed the unjustified sanctions destroyed his good reputation.
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Restrictions lifted on former terror suspect
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The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) says it has also unblocked bank accounts belonging to Youssef Nada. Nada was banned from leaving his home in the tiny Italian exclave of Campione for almost eight years. Because of its location Campione has significant economic and administrative integration with Switzerland. Nada and his associates have denied…
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The Swiss investigator, speaking on the fringes of a Council of Europe conference, “Why terrorism?”, accused the Security Council of flouting its own principles and said the blacklisting discredited the international fight against terror. The foreign ministry told swissinfo it would not comment on Marty’s remarks, made in Strasbourg on Wednesday, but it underlined that…
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There are currently 480 banned individuals and companies, including a businessman, Youssef Nada, who was investigated by the Swiss authorities for having suspected links with the militant Islamic al-Qaeda organisation. The aim of the initiative, put forward jointly with Sweden, Denmark and Liechtenstein, is to set up an independent panel which would check the validity…
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With the creation of an ombudsman’s office, individuals or companies will have an independent review body to which they can submit their grievances and demand their removal from a blacklist. Since 1999, the council has imposed on member states obligations that include travel restrictions, financial sanctions and arms embargoes against people and entities associated with…
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