Switzerland defends racism record at UN rights council
The Swiss Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council has said that an expert report criticising structural racism in the country included “misunderstandings”.
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Suiza se defiende del informe de racismo en el Consejo de Derechos de la ONU
Jürg Lauber said on Monday that while the fight against racism was urgent, a more detailed investigation of the structural racism flagged by a UN working group in January was needed.
Lauber said the findings of the group included “assumptions” and “misunderstandings” which are “not representative of the situation [in Switzerland]”. “Numerous general conclusions seem to be based on only one or several individual cases,” Lauber said. He regretted the fact that discussions with Swiss authorities, which fed into the report, did not last longer.
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Expert group criticises systemic racism in Switzerland
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Black people in Switzerland face everyday discrimination as well serious racial profiling by the police, a UN working group has found.
Echoing the conclusions of January’s report, working group president Catherine Namakula told the HRC that the members of her group were “extremely worried” about attitudes towards policing and justice in Switzerland.
The original 59-point documentExternal link drafted by the group outlined various problems faced by people of African descent in Switzerland, including what it called “shocking reports of police brutality and the expectation of impunity for police misconduct, extending over decades”.
It also criticised an “insufficient recognition” of Swiss ties to colonialism and the African slave trade, which it says is directly connected to the country’s modern wealth, notably through the profits made by banks and industries linked to slavery in the past.
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
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The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
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The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
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None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
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Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
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It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
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The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
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Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
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Annual racism report flags 630 cases of discrimination
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A record number of cases of racial discrimination were recorded in Switzerland in 2021, with the education sector seeing a notable increase.
Swiss launch platform to report racist speech online
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Switzerland has a new platform for reporting racist hate speech on the Internet, the Federal Commission against Racism (FCR) has announced.
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