The danger the young anti-terrorism law to expose citizens to torture abroad and to harm children point out lawyers and human rights experts in view of the referendum that will be held in the country for this.
Following a series of terrorist attacks in Europe after 2015, Switzerland passed a bill last year that makes it easier for police to monitor and restrict the movements of potential perpetrators, even children as young as 12 years old.
Opponents of the bill managed to put it to a referendum on June 13, but opinion polls show that two-thirds of Swiss intend to support the bill, prompting experts to speak out in an effort to halt its implementation, according to AMPE.
“When you create a system in which the federal police take the initiative and decide without judicial oversight in the early stages, it’s like giving life to Frankenstein “ commented Philip Jaffe, a professor of psychology and a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Under the bill, travel bans or child restraining orders can be issued from the age of 12, and 15 children can be placed under house arrest. All measures can be challenged in court.
Her government Switzerland explains that these measures are necessary to avoid situations like that of two brothers, 15 and 16 years old, who went to Syria in 2014 and were later convicted of supporting the Islamic State.
However, Jaffa estimated that the cruel treatment of children by the police may radicalize them further, and there is a risk that innocent people who are mistaken for the authorities will be psychologically injured.
Before the law was passed, about 60 lawmakers warned that it would pave the way for arbitrary police decisions. UN experts have complained that it violates human rights standards.
“The police and the secret services are our guards, their job is to be aggressive. That is why we must limit them, “said Niels Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture.
He pointed out that informing other countries about lists of potential terrorists could lead to the imprisonment or torture of people traveling abroad.
The Swiss Federal Police replied that, under the new law, such lists would not be created. Already has a database on terrorism which, in some cases, is shared with foreign authorities, but only includes information about persons against whom criminal proceedings have been instituted.
In a statement, the Swiss Ministry of Justice and the federal police said that social, therapeutic measures and integration are their first choices when confronting potential perpetrators of terrorist acts.
Extreme views alone do not expose individuals to the effects of the law, they explained, as there must be “specific and recent indications that a person may be committing a terrorist act”.
The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service said in November that it had 49 “dangerous people” in mind who could pose a threat to the country’s security, and that it was monitoring 690 users of jihadist websites.
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