GENERAL
Public prosecutor’s office closes case of police officers accused of murder and failure to provide assistance to mentally ill man of African descent
On 26th November 2024, the Vaudois Public Prosecutor’s Office decided to close the case regarding the death of Roger “Nzoy” Wilhelm, arguing that the policeman who killed him acted in self defence. The case sparked controversy and a collective immediately called to protest this decision (see Assembly below). On 31st August 2021, a policeman shot and killed a 37-year-old man with a vulnerable mental condition, nicknamed “Nzoy” by his relatives, on a train platform. According to Border Forensics, a research and investigation agency based in Geneva, the police officers failed to carry out vital rescue and resuscitation measures during the six minutes Wilhelm laid on his stomach without posing any threat.
The self-established Independent Commission for the Clarification of the Death of Roger Nzoy Wilhelm considers that the Public Prosecutor failed to carry out a sufficient investigation and in particular did not investigate whether the intervention of the police officers was also based on elements of racial discrimination, as Wilhelm was of African descent. The opposition to the prosecutor’s decision must be seen in the context of other killings of Black people by the police in Switzerland. According to La Gazette de la Paix, Nzoy is the fourth black man to be killed by police or die in suspicious circumstances under police custody in Vaud in the past five years.
No improvement on corruption
On 11th February 2025, the new corruption perception index of Transparency International came out. Switzerland lost one spot in 2024 compared to 2023, obtaining its lowest score ever. According to the communication of the Switzerland chapter of Transparency International, measures are urgently needed in the fight against corruption in the public sector, particularly with regard to conflicts of interest at all federal levels and the regulation of lobbying.
Swiss persecution of Sinti and Yenish travellers is a crime against humanity
On 20th February 2025, the Swiss government acknowledged that the persecution of Sinti and Yenish travellers during the 20th century amounts to a crime against humanity based on current international law, and reiterated apologies to the nomadic communities.
Between 1926 and 1973, around 2,000 children of the Swiss Traveller community were forcibly taken away from their families, churches and in particular the organisation Pro Juventute’s Hilfswerk für die Kinder der Landstrasse (Charity for the Children of the Country Road) and placed in foster homes, imprisoned, interned in psychiatric hospitals and/or sterilised against their will.
The Union of Associations and Representatives of Swiss Nomads wrote to the Federal Office of Culture in 2021 to demand that the acts committed against the Yenish between 1926 and 1973 be recognised as constituting genocide according to the UN definition. In 2024, the Radgenossenschaft der Landstrasse, an umbrella organisation of the Yenish and Sinti in Switzerland, called for recognition of ‘cultural genocide’. According to the legal opinion submitted by a law professor on this question, the denounced acts do not amount to a (cultural) genocide.
Swiss to preside over the UN Human Rights Council in 2025
The Swiss Jürg Lauber is the President of the Human Rights Council in 2025. This is the first time Switzerland leads the UN body charged to promote and protect human rights globally. In addition to chairing the meetings, he can propose candidates for Special Procedures mandates and appoint experts to serve on UN investigative bodies.
EXPRESSION
Burqa ban comes into effect
On 1st January 2025, a prohibition on covering one’s face in public places, known as the “burqa ban,” entered into force. The prohibition implements a popular initiative that was approved by 51.2% of Swiss voters in 2021. On 6th November 2024, the Swiss government decided to give effect to the “anti-burqa” initiative. From 1st January 2025, it is forbidden to cover one’s face in public places throughout Switzerland and violations can be punished with a fine of up to CHF1,000 (about $1,143).
The popular initiative added a new article 10a to the Swiss Constitution, providing that no person may cover their face in public spaces or in places that are accessible to the public. A 2023 law provides exceptions, justified on the grounds of health, safety, weather conditions or local custom.
The law also provides for a derogation to allow the exercise of the freedom of expression and freedom of assembly: people who intend to conceal their faces to protect themselves while exercising these constitutional rights will be able to do so - provided that the competent authority has given its consent and that public safety and order are not compromised.
This system of authorisation thus restricts the possibility of showing oneself or gathering in public places spontaneously while concealing one’s face.
No appeal against the acquittal of journalist
On 30th January 2025, the cantonal public prosecutor’s office decided to withdraw its appeal against the acquittal of journalist Julien Wicky.
In September 2020, Wicky published an article in ‘Le Matin dimanche’ about illegal construction in the town of Verbier. The article revealed information contained in a report by the Grand Council’s management committee, which the journalist had obtained two days before its official publication. The Grand Council Office filed a criminal complaint against an unknown person for breach of official secrecy. The source was never found but Wicky was prosecuted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for publishing secret official documents.
On 31st October 2023, Julien Wicky was acquitted by the Sion Tribunal. The cantonal public prosecutor’s office appealed against this decision but withdrew it in January 2025.
ASSEMBLY
Demonstration to denounce the closure of the Nzoy case
On 7th December 2024, around a hundred people protested in Lausanne against the Public Prosecutor’s decision to close the Nzoy case, who was killed by a police officer in 2021 (see above). They called for a ‘fair trial’ and for the prosecutor to be recused.
Hundreds march against the World Economic Forum held in Davos
On 19th January 2025, several hundred people opposing the World Economic Forum (WEF) gathered in Bern for an unauthorised demonstration. The police tolerated the march.
Pro-Palestinian march
On 25th January 2025, more than 2,000 people marched in Geneva to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and to call for “immediate and severe sanctions” against Israel. The peaceful demonstration had been called by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.
ASSOCIATION
Senate Committee wants to stop UNRWA funding
On 18th February 2025, the Senate Foreign Policy Committee approved a motion to stop the Swiss contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). According to the communication, the majority of the Commission is of the opinion that Switzerland should not “provide financial support to an organisation that may be linked to terrorism”. The Commission’s minority warned that the immediate cessation of the contributions to UNRWA would have dramatic consequences for the civilian population. The Senate is expected to decide on this issue during the spring parliamentary session from 26th February to 15th March 2025.
The committee also rejected three petitions from Amnesty International, the Centre for Non-Violent Action (CENAC) and the Campax association, which called for support for UNRWA.
USAID freeze impacts NGOs based in Switzerland
On 20th January 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order freezing foreign development assistance. This decision impacted several organisations in Switzerland. The canton of Geneva is home to 40 international organisations and 476 NGOs. According to Geneva’s Economic Affairs Director Delphine Bachmann, a few NGOs have laid off their employees in the weeks following the order and mass layoffs involving several dozen people are upcoming.
Quote: “We’ve had to cut back or cancel actions, particularly in Afghanistan, China and Nicaragua. We have also had to reduce our team here in Geneva”
- Phil Lynch, Executive Director of the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
On 14th February 2025, the Geneva government agreed to make CHF10 million (USD 11,150,000) available over 90 days to provide financial support to NGOs in need. However, the emergency clause, which had been requested so that the text could come into force immediately, failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority. The Swiss People’s Party (UDC) requested a referendum on the issue, further delaying any entry into force of this measure until April.
Report finds Tibetans and Uyghurs very likely monitored by Chinese intelligence services
According to a @Europainstitut study, China is allegedly pressuring Tibetans and Uyghurs living in Switzerland. The Federal Council recommends examining additional prevention, coordination and awareness-raising measures.
— Swiss Federal Government (@SwissGov) February 12, 2025
Press release in DE/FR/IT: https://t.co/bVtQ78hhoC
On 12th February 2025, the Federal Council adopted the resuts of a study commissioned by the Federal Office of Justice and the State Secretariat for Migration on the repression of the Tibetan and Uyghur diasporas in Switzerland by the People’s Republic of China. The report finds that Tibetans and Uyghurs living in Switzerland are subject to transnational repression: they are probably being pressurised by actors in the People's Republic of China and are being hindered in the full exercise of their fundamental rights.
The authors of the study found that actors in the People’s Republic of China are very likely to encourage Tibetans and Uyghurs living in Switzerland to spy on members of their community and to exert pressure on them. Members of these two politically active diasporas are reported to be systematically monitored, photographed and filmed. According to the report, demonstrations organised by the Tibetan diaspora are monitored. Agents of the Chinese intelligence services operate under diplomatic cover or pose as journalists, tourists or students.
Finally, the study points to the growing cyber attacks carried out against the Tibetan community in exile and adds that these are no longer targeting the institutions of the Tibetan government in exile and Tibetan NGOs only, but also journalists and NGOs that maintain contact with the Tibetan community.