Médicins sans Frontières wants Switzerland to stand up for the rule of law in conflict zones.
Keystone / Haitham Imad
The head of the humanitarian group Médicins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has appealed to Switzerland, as a "defender of international human rights”, to remind governments that rules apply even in war – particularly in the Middle East.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
العربية
ar
أطبّاء بلا حدود تدعو سويسرا للتدخّل بشأن الوضع في غزّة
The NGO does not want to point the finger at specific governments, said Christos Christou in an interview with CH Media published on Friday. The organisation sent letters to many countries, including Switzerland. “We challenge them all to do their best,” Christou said.
He found clearer words for the United Nations Security Council, of which Switzerland is currently a member: The UN Security Council should reconsider its position and put pressure on Israel “to stop the deadly attacks on the Palestinian civilian population,” said Christou.
The Security Council must draw up a binding resolution. Doctors Without Borders demands that all parties respect the rules of war and adhere to international human rights, said Christou when asked about the Islamist Hamas.
The organisation itself lost three employees in bomb attacks, Christou said on Thursday at a media conference in Geneva. There he also warned of diseases that would add to the victims in the Gaza Strip. He also called for more medical evacuations.
Personally, Christou has stopped being optimistic about the state of the world. The situation in Gaza goes far beyond a humanitarian crisis. “It’s a humanitarian disaster,” said Christou, who recently returned from Israel.
More
More
Inside Geneva: baptism of fire for UN’s new human rights chief
This content was published on
Inside Geneva sits down for the last in our series of exclusive interviews with UN human rights commissioners. It’s the turn of Volker Türk.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Banking & Fintech
UBS releases ‘hundreds’ of staff in fresh wave of job cuts
Should Switzerland take measures to support its struggling industries?
Industrial policies are back in fashion, not only in the United States but also in the EU. Should Switzerland, where various industries are struggling, draw inspiration from such policies?
As a Swiss Abroad, how do you feel about the emergence of more conservative family policies in some US states?
In recent years several US states have adopted more conservative policies on family issues, abortion and education. As a Swiss citizen living there, how do you view this development?
This content was published on
The parents of the young jihadist who left for Syria to join the Islamic State have been given suspended sentences by the Federal Criminal Court.
This content was published on
Felix Lehner, Pamela Rosenkranz and Miroslav Sik have been awarded the Swiss Grand Award for Art/Prix Meret Oppenheim 2025.
Nearly 2% of new Swiss disability insurance claims involve Long Covid
This content was published on
Just under 2% of new claims submitted to the disability insurance between 2021 and 2023 concern people suffering from Long Covid.
This content was published on
The watch industry had to contend with a weakening of its exports last year, which reached a volume of CHF25.9 billion ($28.5 billion).
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.