Swiss Politics

UN urges rich nations to take lead on human rights

This content was published on Dec 11, 2001 Two parliamentarians on Monday presented to parliament an initiative to create a federal human rights commission in Switzerland. The move coincided with human rights day which celebrated the 53rd anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also follows pressure from the UN, which has long urged richer nations to supplement…

Swiss Politics

Swiss take aim at “dum-dum” bullets

This content was published on Dec 11, 2001 The Swiss also intend to call for tighter controls on the use of cluster bombs, which are blamed for causing widespread civilian casualties in former battle zones. The ten-day meeting is the second conference review of the UN Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). The treaty was signed…

Swiss Politics

US forces suspension of germ warfare deal

This content was published on Dec 7, 2001 The three-week conference ended in disarray on Friday night after Washington demanded the winding up of a committee charged with negotiating an end to the use of such weapons. The conference, convened to find ways of implementing the 1972 Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention, agreed to suspend work until November 2002 in response to the…

Swiss Politics

Annan seeks to reassure Swiss over UN membership

This content was published on Dec 7, 2001 In an interview with the French-language daily “Le Temps” Annan sought to reassure those Swiss considering voting no in the referendum on UN membership in March 2002. Annan noted that Switzerland was already a member of the International Court of Justice and of many UN agencies: “Your country is already part of the United Nations…

Swiss Politics

Finance minister elected Swiss president for 2002

This content was published on Dec 5, 2001 Villiger took 183 votes out of 203 valid ballots in Wednesday’s election, which is largely a formality since each of the seven members of the cabinet takes turns to be president for one year. He will take over from the current president, Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger, at the end of the year. The strong show…

Swiss Politics

Swiss aid Nepalese, despite violence

This content was published on Dec 4, 2001 A bombing in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Monday killed one person and wounded two others; on Tuesday soldiers shot dead two suspected Maoist rebels. Maoist rebels want to replace Nepal’s constitutional monarchy with a communist republic. Recently, they ended a four-month ceasefire, and in the past two weeks, at least 200 people have…

Swiss Politics

Press finds voters decisive in time of uncertainty

This content was published on Dec 3, 2001 Swiss newspapers take an almost unanimous line in their attempts to interpret voters’ reasons for throwing out initiatives to abolish the armed forces and to introduce two new taxes – on capital gains and energy. The leader writer at Bern’s “Der Bund” newspaper, Richard Aschinger, writes that Sunday “was a day of radical decisions… influenced…

Swiss Politics

Emmen in the spotlight over Swiss citizenship – again

This content was published on Dec 2, 2001 In a secret ballot, voters agreed to grant citizenship to six candidates from Morocco, Portugal, Italy, and the Philippines. An 11-year-old Yugoslavian girl also gained citizenship by the narrow margin of 3,294 votes to 3,142. However the other 12 applicants, who came from Yugoslavia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, were all turned down, albeit by a margin…

Swiss Politics

Vote shows Swiss firmly behind army

This content was published on Dec 2, 2001 Four out of five people at the ballot box rejected proposals by a pacifist group to scrap the armed forces and to set up a voluntary peace corps, funded by the government. Final results show only 22 per cent of voters and none of the country’s 26 cantons approved the proposals. Turnout was about 40…

Swiss Politics

Nationality rows fuel calls for change

This content was published on Dec 2, 2001 Traditionally, foreigners applying for Swiss citizenship do so through their local communities, which make the final decision. This means that the system for granting citizenship can vary from one town to another. Although some basic regulations, such as the requirement to have lived 12 years in Switzerland, apply across the country, towns and villages are…

Swiss Politics

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Swiss Politics

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UN urges rich nations to take lead on human rights

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Swiss take aim at “dum-dum” bullets

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US forces suspension of germ warfare deal

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Annan seeks to reassure Swiss over UN membership

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Finance minister elected Swiss president for 2002

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Swiss aid Nepalese, despite violence

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Press finds voters decisive in time of uncertainty

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Emmen in the spotlight over Swiss citizenship – again

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Vote shows Swiss firmly behind army

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Nationality rows fuel calls for change

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