BERN, SWITZERLAND – The European Court of Human Rights Friday 8 July ruled that two cases brought against Switzerland are “inadmissable”: the Swiss popular vote against the construction of new minarets does not directly violate the rights of those who filed complaints with the court in December 2009.
Switzerland voted against the construction of new minarets, a vote that had no impact on the existing five, in November 2009. Two weeks later charges were brought by Hafid Ouardiri, co-president of the Geneva-based Fondation de l’entre-connaissance, and by the Swiss League of Muslims.
Court’s judgement (Fre)
2010 Amnesty International report is out
[Video] Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The 2010 Amnesty International report is out, and Switzerland, and many powerful countries including China and the United States, do not fare well.
The report which compiles reported abuses in over 150 nations, criticizes some parts of Europe and Central Asia where “space for independent voices and civil society have shrunk.” It also considers xenopobia, intolerance and racism to be on the rise in Europe.
Switzerland’s initiative to ban the construction of new minarets is heavily criticized in the report, as is police violence. The report calls for the Swiss confederation to do more to prevent police-sponsored abuses.
The 2010 report also points to higher levels of what it calls “unlawful killings” in Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica and Mexico, and criticizes the United States for its persisting “violations related to counter-terrorism.”
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The director of Switzerland’s Migration Office, Alard du Bois-Reymond, has told the
Conseil central islamique suisse (CCIS) that it will be excluded from discussions between the federal government and Muslim groups, designed to improve dialogue with the country’s Muslim population. “The participation of the CCIS in discussions with the Muslim population cannot be envisaged given the current situation”, du Bois-Reymond noted, referring to the group’s conservative stance.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Friday often brings some of the world’s stranger bits of news, from amusing to weird to hard to believe:
- Young people who are not yet of voting age, in Geneva, Switzerland erected the first new and relatively small minaret, defying the 29 November popular vote that bans them: in the Place Neuve, out of cardboard. Institute of Race Relations, UK (Ed. note: here is a design for homemade miniature cardboard minarets, in case they suddenly sell out in Swiss shops)
- Manchester, England: a 29-year-old man was shot dead when he and friends were confronted outside the money exchange where he worked. Police say he was robbed for cash and for his laptop. A 20-year-old is in custody. Guardian, UK
- A heavily drunk man in the Perm Territory, in the Russian Urals, was saved from flames by his cat. He fell asleep with a cigarette in his hand and when the apartment burst into flames his cat leaped onto him, scratching his face until the man came to and phoned the fire department. Ria Novosti, Russia
- Read more…
Background on local and national Swiss votes 29 November, GenevaLunch
Update 16:40 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss voters turned Sunday voted to ban the construction of new minarets in the country, with 57.5 percent of voters approving the initiative and 42.5 percent opposed to it. The vote went along language lines, with Swiss Germans voting for the ban and French speakers voting against, although cantons with both languages, such as Valais and Bern, voted soundly to support the ban.
The result is widely seen as a slap in the face to the government, which has strongly opposed the initiative. But it will also be read as a vote against the current situation of Muslims in Switzerland, say most Swiss media. On the one hand, approving the ban will send a signal that the Swiss are worried about “creeping Islamization”, a phrase that was used by the UDC (right-wing People’s Party) during the campaign, and on the other hand, a signal that Muslim ghettoes are not acceptable, reports Swissinfo. The Muslim population has increased by about 350,000 and is now around 4.5 percent of the Swiss population, according to Swissinfo.
Switzerland set to continue arms exports
Voters rejected by 68 percent, early results indicate, a popular initiative to stop Swiss arms exports.
Geneva says yes to Ceva regional transport, Vésenaz tunnel
The years of debate are over for Ceva, the regional transport system that would link Geneva to Annemasse. Voters approved by nearly 62 percent a CHF113 million credit that will allow the project to go ahead. They also approved the covered tunnel for Vésenaz.
Map of incoming results on TSR: “la carte”
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The sign in front of the mosque in the Geneva suburb of Petit-Saconnex was covered in pink paint during the night of 25-26 November, reports the Tribune de Genève. It is the third time this month that the site has been a target for vandals and troublemakers: the façade of the mosque was stoned 15 November, and a week earlier a group of right-wing radicals made a false call to prayer at 07:00.
The country votes on whether or not to prohibit the building of minarets in Switzerland Sunday 29 November but some observers believe the vote is more about the changing role of Islam in Swiss society.
Links to other sites: ABC, Australia, Le Temps (Fre), TF1 (Fre), France, Tribune de Geneve (Fre)
Geneva, Switzerland (Genevalunch) – Switzerland votes Sunday 29 November on three issues: construction of minarets, Swiss arms sales abroad, spending airplane fuel tax revenues. The Swiss generally vote four times a year on a variety of federal issues. Voters will also have cantonal issues to decide Sunday: in Geneva, they will be asked to approve financing for two construction projects, Vaud votes on extending a nuclear power plant’s operations, Valais votes on a law governing tourism, and Neuchatel’s citizens will be asked to approve a new energy law.
Swiss-wide, minarets issue has sparked heated debate
The minaret initiative was proposed by the right-wing UDC (People’s Party), which wants to prohibit the construction of minarets in Switzerland.
Bern and Nyon, Morges, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Bern has become the latest of several Swiss cities, mostly in French-speaking areas, to disapprove the UDC right-wing party’s anit-minaret posters. Morges and Nyon in the Lake Geneva area earlier in the week banned the poster, which supports a popular initiative proposed by the UDC to ban the construction of new minarets in Switzerland. The Swiss government says that it believes such a ban is likely illegal in any event and it announced firmly its opposition to the proposal the day it announced a 29 November voting date. Wednesday 15 October a United Nations committee called the initiative racist and called for Swiss voters to reject it. Switzerland has four minarets and a fifth, in canton Bern, is planned. The country regularly holds votes on a wide variety of issues brought by citizens groups, part of the direct democracy system that the Swiss say allows them to openly debate topics that might only be aired in parliaments in other countries.
Update 12:00 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The gray line between freedom of speech and racism continues to be toyed with by the Swiss right-wing UDC party while municipalities in Switzerland debate whether or not to stop the group’s campaign posters for an upcoming popular vote. The 26 November referendum with three items includes one to ban the construction of new minarets in the country. The proposal is widely expected to be defeated, based on recent polls, but it could be close.
Basel-City and Lausanne have refused permission for the posters to go up, while Geneva Wednesday afternoon 7 October decided to allow them. Several cities asked the Swiss Federal Commission Against Racism for an opinion, which it issued Wednesday afternoon 7 October. Since then Winterthur, Zurich and Lucerne have decided to allow the posters, but Fribourg has banned them.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland’s right-wing UDC party is back in the news for its posters: Lausanne 7 October banned the party’s campaign posters that show a Swiss map crowded with minarets and a frowning, heavily veiled woman. The city says the posters are “racist, irrespectful and dangerous.” Basel-City also banned the posters Tuesday and Geneva will decide Wednesday. The Swiss will vote 29 November on a UDC-sponsored popular referendum to ban the construction of new minarets. Two of the six parties are in favour of it and the government is opposed.
The UDC (SVP in German; People’s Party) sparked a heated national debate and gained international attention in 2008 with posters showing several white sheep and a black one for a vote to send foreign criminals back to their home countries. In May 2009 the Swiss high court ruled in the party’s favour over another poster that showed Muslims prostrate in front of the Swiss federal palace in Bern.
