Switzerland has “systemic” racism problems, say UN experts
GENEVA, Oct 3 (Reuters) – Switzerland has a serious systemic problem with racism against people of African descent, according to a report presented to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, which includes a wide range of examples from police brutality to child’s play .
The UN-appointed working group took note of positive action by Switzerland but nonetheless expressed concern about the spread of racial discrimination and highlighted several incidents following a visit to the country earlier this year.
“The pervasiveness and impunity of this misconduct suggests that a serious systemic problem exists,” it said.
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Switzerland’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva broadly accepted the findings in his comments to the Council, but questioned that the experts used a limited number of examples to draw broader conclusions.
Landlocked Switzerland was never a colonial power, but its banks, merchants and communities invested heavily and benefited from the transatlantic triangular trade, the report said.
She cited efforts to raise public awareness of aspects of Swiss history, such as a petition and debate over the removal of a statue in the canton of Neuchâtel of a banker whose fortune was based on the exploitation of enslaved Africans.
Others, however, continued to be valorized, such as Louis Agassiz, an advocate of scientific racism, who named an Alpine peak after him.
According to the experts, Swiss playground games such as “Who’s afraid of black people?”, which have a racially discriminatory effect, will remain in place.
The report also cited “shocking” police brutality and the deaths of several black men in the canton of Vaud.
“Switzerland agrees with your observation that racism and racial discrimination – including against people of African descent – are problems that urgently need to be addressed,” Jurg Lauber told the Geneva Human Rights Council on Monday.
He stressed that new measures had been taken to address the problems, including cantonal counseling centers for victims of racial discrimination, and pointed to improvements in police training programs.
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Ed Osmond
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.