Killing Free Speech in Switzerland
by Judith Bergman • June 6, 2020 at 5:00 am
ECRI's monitoring of Switzerland, since its first report about the country was published in 1998, is an illustrative example of the organization's persistent efforts -- and considerable success -- over the past two decades in limiting free speech in Europe.
Already in its first report on Switzerland, in 1998, ECRI -- despite admitting that "a decrease in manifestations of racism and intolerance has been noted over the last 2-3 years" and that "overt manifestations of [racial prejudices and xenophobia] are rather rare," told the Swiss media to promote specific narratives...
"ECRI is concerned that a climate of intolerance or xenophobia towards non-citizens and those who are different from the native Swiss population appears to persist". No substantial documentation was offered as basis for the allegation -- ECRI even criticized in the same report that "little information is systematically collected in Switzerland regarding the extent of racism and discrimination" -- but none seemed to be needed, as ECRI's motivation appeared to be political...
Throughout the years, ECRI has stressed the media's central role in promoting specific, politicized agendas.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recently published its sixth monitoring report on Switzerland.
ECRI is the human rights monitoring body of the Council of Europe -- not to be confused with the European Union. The Council of Europe calls itself the "continent's leading human rights organization."
ECRI was founded in 1994 by the heads of state of the Council of Europe with the mandate, among other things, to "review member States' legislation, policies and other measures to combat racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance, and their effectiveness".
The organization is composed of "members designated by their governments... on the basis of their in-depth knowledge in the field of combating intolerance". They should have ... expertise in dealing with racism... and intolerance. ECRI's members are nominated in their personal capacity and act as independent members".
