The Federal Council states its position on the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council

Bern, 27.02.2013 - At its meeting on 27 February 2013, the Federal Council approved a common statement by the Federal Council and the cantons regarding the 86 recommendations that the Human Rights Council made in connection with the Universal Periodic Review of the human rights situation in Switzerland. All UN member states are subject to this review, which takes place every 4 1/2 years.

Switzerland, represented by Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, had its human rights situation reviewed on 29 October 2012 by the UN Human Rights Council. There was a large interest of the international community in this review and Switzerland was praised for its high level of human rights protection. It received 140 recommendations from over 80 states on how to improve the protection of human rights in Switzerland.

Switzerland immediately accepted 50 of these recommendations. It rejected four recommendations and decided to carry out a thorough review of the remaining 86. This review was carried out between November 2012 and January 2013, in close cooperation with the federal offices and the cantons involved.

The resulting consolidated position statement for the attention of the Human Rights Council by Switzerland was today approved by the Federal Council. It accepted 49 of the recommendations and rejected 36. One of the recommendations concerned family policy. The Federal Council will only be able to state its position on this item after the results of the popular vote on 3 March 2013.

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) and the deputy secretary of the Conference of Cantonal Governments will present and explain Switzerland's position at the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 14 March 2013.

The decisive criterion for accepting or rejecting the recommendations was an analysis of whether Switzerland has already implemented the recommendations or whether it can implement them by the time of the next UPR in 4 1/2 years.

Switzerland believes in the value of the UPR process and supported its introduction. The process does not end with the presentation of Switzerland's position to the Human Rights Council because from then on the demanding task of implementing the recommendations that have been accepted begins. The aim is to further strengthen and improve the already very high level of human rights protection in Switzerland.

Detailed information about the individual recommendations including explanations about why they have been accepted or rejected can be found on the FDFA Homepage: http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/de/home/topics/human/humri/ref_humun/upr.html

 


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