Semenya: ECHR confirms Switzerland violated athlete’s rights

Switzerland condemned in the Semenya case Keystone-SDA

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld a 2023 decision that Switzerland violated the rights of South African athlete Caster Semenya.

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The judges found that the hyperandrogenic athlete’s right to a fair trial had been violated by Switzerland. As a result, the Federal Court’s review of the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision on appeal did not achieve the required level of attention.

Two years ago, in a chamber decision, the ECHR upheld Semenya’s complaint on several points. In particular, it found that the World Athletics (WA) rules, upheld by the Swiss courts, violated the athlete’s right to privacy.

The rules at issue require women with excess male hormones (hyperandrogens) to take female hormones in order to take part in competitions recognised by WA. Switzerland appealed the 2023 decision to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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