Inside Geneva: prisoners of war and weapons exports

This week, Inside Geneva goes behind the scenes with the ICRC’s prisoner exchange in Yemen.

Speaking to Inside Geneva, Fabrizio Carboni, Near and Middle East regional director for the International Committee of the Red Cross, refers to family ties when discussing the prisoner exchange in Yemen. 

“Imagine now there is a frontline between us, and my son, my brother, my mother, my father are captured and I can’t see them for a year, or two, three, four.’’

Can the move help bring peace to Yemen?

According to analyst Daniel Warner, “confidence building is the most important thing in all negotiations, and in any kind of situation such as prisoner exchange, but also in any development of finding peace.”

We also discuss Switzerland’s tricky position over Ukraine, neutrality, and the arms trade. Keith Krause, from the Geneva-based Graduate Institute warns that “German officials have expressed their dismay that Switzerland would not allow re-export of munitions that Germany had bought several years ago. So, Switzerland finds itself in a very delicate position.”

What happens to neutrality at this point?

“A Russian diplomat said that Switzerland is no longer considered a neutral country. When you think of the summits: Reagan-Gorbachev or Biden-Putin, it’s difficult to imagine in the future that Geneva or Switzerland will be a centre for negotiations,” concludes Warner.

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