Swiss Earth Summit delegate attacked in hotel

The attacker fired a shot in one of the delegate's rooms (Sandton Village House) Sandton Village House

A member of the Swiss delegation to the Earth Summit in Johannesburg has been attacked at gunpoint.

The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, was attacked by an armed robber who entered the hotel room in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The assailant shot at the delegate at close range when she was awoken by a disturbance in her room. Her attacker fled empty-handed after the bullet missed.

The delegate – who had been scheduled to speak at a seminar at the Swiss sustainable development platform in Johannesburg – has flown home.

Another delegate from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Johannesburg was earlier robbed by the same attacker while she slept in her room.

Another guest said the incidents were almost certainly isolated cases of robbery and were not being perceived as politically-motivated attacks on the Swiss delegation.

Shock

Daniele Waldburger, spokesman for the Swiss delegation in Johannesburg, said all the delegates were in shock but remained determined to continue with the country’s programme of seminars and activities at the summit.

The United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development gets underway on Monday.

“Of course this is quite a grave incident,” Waldburger told swissinfo.

“But we do not believe this was aimed at Switzerland or the Swiss
delegation,” he added.

Rudolf Schaller, the Swiss ambassador in South Africa, told swissinfo there is always a risk of attack in one of the world’s most crime-ridden cities.

“It’s disappointing that this has happened at the world conference,” Schaller commented, “particularly because we have read so much about the security preparations, and it just goes to show that nobody can guarantee 100 per cent security.”

Tighter security

Waldburger also called on summit organisers to make sure that security was tight not just at the conference venues, but also at all official hotels being used by international delegates.

“This incident is certainly not the result of a lack of circumspection on the part of the Swiss Embassy [in Pretoria],” Waldburger explained.

“It was the Johannesburg World Summit Company which was in charge of the booking and which is responsible for security,” he added.

The Sandton Village House hotel – located around 20 kilometres from the summit’s main conference centre – was deemed to be one of safest hotels in the area.

The Swiss Embassy is currently reviewing safety precautions with South African government officials.

Security in Johannesburg has been stepped up for the summit, with the deployment of at least 10,000 additional police and troops.

Their role is to protect delegates and to prevent the violent mass demonstrations that have marred recent gatherings of global leaders in Seattle, Genoa and elsewhere.

Waldburger also made it clear the attack would not affect Switzerland’s schedule at the summit, including the arrival of the head of the delegation, Swiss foreign minister Joseph Deiss, next week.

by Ramsey Zarifeh in Johannesburg

Key facts

One Swiss delegate attacked at gunpoint, another robbed.
Attacks occurred in Sandton Village House, recommended for being one of the safest hotels in the area.
Switzerland says conference schedule remains unchanged.

In brief

A member of the Swiss delegation to the Earth Summit is Johannesburg has been attacked at gunpoint in her hotel room.

The delegate was in severe shock, but physically unharmed.

Earlier, another Swiss delegate was robbed in her room by the same assailant.

The attacks were not perceived as politically-motivated.

Switzerland is demanding better safety precautions for its delegation.