Swiss Abroad

Will deportation vote lead to EU tension?

This content was published on Nov 7, 2010 The rightwing Swiss People’s Party collected more than 210,000 signatures – double the number needed – to bring the issue of the mandatory deportation of convicted criminals without Swiss citizenship to a nationwide vote. If one believes the polls taken before the campaign started – and bear in mind that the polls got it spectacularly…

Swiss Politics

Doubts cast on democracy of Myanmar vote

This content was published on Nov 6, 2010 According to the non-governmental organisation, the Swiss-Burma Association, the vote on November 7 will do nothing more than reinforce the military junta’s grip on power in the Southeast Asian nation. Twenty years after the first “democratic” elections won by the party of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi – a victory annulled…

Swiss Politics

United States placed in human rights hot seat

This content was published on Nov 5, 2010 A 30-strong US delegation was grilled by more than 80 states on issues ranging from the Guantanamo detention centre to racial discrimination. Switzerland called for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. The US was the 136th UN member state to be scrutinised by allies and adversaries in the UN…

Swiss Politics

Repatriation flights to Nigeria to resume

This content was published on Nov 5, 2010 Such operations were suspended last March following the death of Nigerian man during deportation. At a news conference on Friday senior officials of the Swiss and the Nigerian foreign ministries announced the conclusion of negotiations on a wide-ranging partnership on migration between the two countries. The memorandum of understanding covers issues including human rights, vocational…

Swiss Politics

Minister asks unions to ponder pension reform

This content was published on Nov 5, 2010 Speaking before the Swiss Trade Union Federation’s annual meeting, Didier Burkhalter said one of the country’s major strengths was its ability to offer positions to nearly everyone in the economy while maintaining a strong social safety net to catch those who fall through the cracks. “But no chain is stronger than its weakest link and…

Swiss Politics

Swiss criticise US human rights record

This content was published on Nov 5, 2010 Dante Martinelli, Swiss ambassador to the United Nations, made the appeal at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday. The council was debating a report on the human rights record of the US, compiled for the ninth session of the Universal Periodic Review. He also criticised the detention conditions…

Swiss Politics

E-voting trials extended but progress is slow

This content was published on Nov 5, 2010 In the November 28 nationwide ballot, up to 190,000 citizens – 4.1 per cent of the potential electorate – can participate over cyberspace rather than casting a postal vote or going to the polling booth. But despite pressure, notably by the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), there is still a long way to go…

Swiss Politics

Wikileaks founder takes US to task over abuses

This content was published on Nov 4, 2010 Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks which has made public almost 400,000 classified US files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was in Geneva on Thursday ahead of the first comprehensive United Nations review of the US human-rights record. “If the United States is to be seen as a credible country that obeys the…

Swiss Politics

“Obama will have to set his sights lower”

This content was published on Nov 4, 2010 Alfred Defago, the Swiss ambassador to Washington from 1997-2001 and now a professor of international relations at Wisconsin University, says the president needs to set his sights lower and find a compromise with the Republicans, who now have control of the House of Representatives. The Democrats managed to cling on to the Senate despite losing…

Swiss Politics

Hospital told to force feed cannabis farmer

This content was published on Nov 3, 2010 Esther Waeber-Kalbermatten of the Vaud cantonal security office told Geneva’s University Hospital to take steps to protect the health of Bernard Rappaz, including force feeding him if necessary. She said there should not be any interruption to his jail term. She told a hastily convened news conference on Wednesday that a Federal Court ruling from…

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Will deportation vote lead to EU tension?

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Doubts cast on democracy of Myanmar vote

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United States placed in human rights hot seat

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Repatriation flights to Nigeria to resume

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Minister asks unions to ponder pension reform

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Swiss criticise US human rights record

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E-voting trials extended but progress is slow

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Wikileaks founder takes US to task over abuses

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“Obama will have to set his sights lower”

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Hospital told to force feed cannabis farmer

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