MINISTRY RE-EXAMINES GENOCIDE DEFINITION
Swissinfo, Switzerland
Nov 13 2006
Photo: A demonstration in 1994 ahead of a vote on the anti-racism law
(Keystone Archive)
A senior justice ministry official says the current anti-racism law
needs to be re-examined to modify a clause on genocide.
The head of the Federal Justice Office, Michael Leupold, argues that
a judge is not in a position to decide on the definition of genocide.
The debate on Switzerland’s anti-racism legislation came to the fore
after Justice Minister Christoph Blocher, a member of the rightwing
Swiss People’s Party, announced during a visit to Turkey in October
that he wanted to change the law.
Any act of denying, belittling or justifying genocide is a violation
of Swiss anti-racism legislation.
The law prompted investigations against two Turkish citizens, including
a historian, for allegedly denying the 1915 Armenian massacre.
In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Leupold said
there could be no question of abolishing the anti-racism law but
certain changes were necessary.
For Leupold it is up to historians and not judges to decide on the
definition of genocide. He added that it was not clear whether the
current law infringes on the freedom of speech.
However, Boël Sambuc, vice-president of the Federal Commission on
Racism she was shocked by Leupold’s comments.
"The law is very clear and Switzerland also signed an international
convention aimed at preventing genocide," she told public radio.
What’s this? Federal Commission against Racism One expert group
Leupold added that judges should seek assistance from an international
institution or that the relevant clause be struck from the law
altogether.
His comments echo a statement by Justice Minister Blocher who said
the anti-racism law needed to be clearer and less ambiguous.
A working group re-examining the legislation is made of one person
so far, according to Leupold.
He added the he had not been asked to exclude the president of the
Federal Commission against Racism from the group.
The controversial head of the government-advisory committee has
publicly accused Blocher of telling lies.
Geneva prison
In a separate issue, Leupold announced that the justice ministry was
ready to consider a financial contribution to upgrade the overcrowded
prison of Champ-Dollon outside Geneva.
He said the federal authorities were willing to pay just over a
third of the planned costs estimated at SFr68 million ($54.8 million)
which the Geneva cantonal parliament is due to consider next year.
Champ-Dollon is notorious for being Switzerland’s most overcrowded
jail. It contains more than 500 inmates, but its normal capacity is
set at 270.
A series of hunger strikes over alleged police brutality and slow
justice, suicides, and a fire in the prison have caught media attention
over the past few months.
In April human rights campaigners described the situation in the
prison as potentially explosive.
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