UN urges Swiss action on torture

The committee called on Switzerland to fully investigate complaints of police ill-treatment Keystone

The United Nations Committee against Torture has urged Switzerland to include an explicit definition of torture in the country’s penal code.

The committee also called on the government to ensure that complaints of torture or ill-treatment by police were properly and effectively investigated, and alleged perpetrators brought to justice.

The ten-strong body issued its response on Friday to Switzerland’s fourth report on efforts to comply with the UN Convention on Torture.

The committee noted a number of positive aspects, including moves to prohibit the use of gags and pepper sprays during forced deportations or the transportation of detainees.

It also welcomed a draft federal code under which police would no longer be able to hold people in solitary confinement.

But Chile’s Claudio Grossman, vice-chairman of the committee, said there were a number of areas of concern, including Switzerland’s failure to incorporate the UN’s definition of torture in the penal code.

“There are scattered provisions and we think that it is important to have one definition in one place,” he told swissinfo. “That’s standard for many different countries.”

Electroshock weapons

The committee again expressed its unease over the proposed use of electroshock weapons during forced deportations.

It recommended that independent human-rights observers and/or doctors should be present during all forced repatriations by air and that medical examinations should be carried out as a matter of routine.

The committee wants the government to create a central log of all cases of alleged torture or ill-treatment, particularly those involving asylum seekers.

“In spite of the increase in complaints filed against police, often by persons of foreign origin, only a minority of these complaints result in prosecutions or indictments, and even fewer cases result in compensation for the victims or their families,” it said in its report.

Grossman added that the UN body had asked the Swiss government to explain what steps had been taken to compensate the families of two foreigners – a Palestinian and a Nigerian – who died in custody during forced deportations.

Chile’s representative on the committee also called on the government to ensure that asylum seekers were granted the right to a fair hearing under a proposed toughening of the asylum law.

Definition of torture

Bernardo Stadelmann, vice-director of the Federal Justice Office, noted the committee’s calls for the UN’s definition of torture to be enshrined in the penal code. But he said Switzerland already “fully met” the stipulations of the UN Convention on Torture.

“Switzerland has not seen any need to create a new global provision on torture because each constituent element according to the definition in article 1 of the Convention is already covered by different provisions in the penal code,” he said.

As for the controversial issue of electroshock weapons, Stadelmann insisted that members’ misgivings over the draft law regulating the use of force during deportations would be taken on board.

“We take notice of their concerns and we can assure them that this aspect will be the subject of further discussions during the legislative procedure,” he added.

Stadelmann said the committee’s other recommendations would be studied closely to see how they could be applied in accordance with the Swiss constitution.

swissinfo, Adam Beaumont

In brief

The Committee against Torture is a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Switzerland is among 139 states party to the convention, which it ratified in December 1986.