Against the repression of students’ freedom of expression in Switzerland
Restrictions on freedom of expression in Switzerland in the context of Palestinian rights turned into outright repression when students started raising their voices.
From May 2024, students across the country organised to peacefully demand actions be taken by their institutions in line with international law to prevent Swiss complicity in the genocide on Palestinians. They demanded the respect of human rights and the application of mandatory international law, to end the genocide and allow for dialogue within their universities. They were met with repression, ranging from arbitrary intimidation tactics to defamation, from police violence to arrests and criminalisation, to censor and silence their legitimate demands.
On October 1st 2024, we at Swiss Action for Human Rights submitted our national petition for the protection of Student’s free speech and against their repression to the Swiss Federal Council in Bern with over 3’242 signatures. We were accompanied by students from Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich universities, lawyers and human rights experts, Amnesty Switzerland as well as press and supporters.
Together with the petition, we submitted to the Federal Council members a letter denouncing the repression faced by students mobilising against the genocide on Palestine, listing concrete example from universities across Switzerland. We also attached a report on the incidents that occurred under university and police repression at the ETH University in Zurich, which has resulted in 40 wrongful convictions on criminal charges of trespassing against innocent participants.
National petition: Protect the freedom of expression of students in Switzerland
Addressed to the Swiss Federal Council, the association Swiss Universities and the administrations of universities and higher education schools in Switzerland.
In defense and against the repression of students’ rights to free expression in Swiss educational institutions
We stand by the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Swiss Federal Constitution and international law to freedom of opinion, information and expression. This includes the right of students to peaceful protest and assembly, which must be upheld by all Swiss educational institutions.
We strongly condemn the violations of these rights by State authorities, universities and schools in Switzerland, as evidenced by increasingly violent repressive measures against free speech and peaceful protest.
Institutions, both at the cantonal and federal level, have consistently shut down efforts by students to discuss the current situation in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. This silencing violates students’ rights to information, to form an opinion and fails to provide the context necessary to critical thinking. Furthermore, some of these institutions are promoting a false narrative that criminalises solidarity with Palestine and the denouncing of violations of international law against its people.
This repression has culminated in forceful eviction and dispersion by police of peacefully assembled students from their universities and public spaces, in violation of their right to protest. Refusal to engage in dialogue with their students is contrary to the social function of educational institutions.
We condemn the use of force and the abuse of authority to intimidate and silence students as they voice support for universal human rights and international law.
We oppose the use of our taxes to fund this institutional and police repression.
We demand that all Swiss educational institutions, police and authorities refrain from penalising or criminalising students protests and free speech and withdraw all existing charges against them.
We demand that Swiss educational institutions stop censoring voices of support for the Palestinian people and their struggle for self-determination. They must grant their students the space for critical reflection and education on this topic in all safety, while engaging with student demands seriously and transparently.
It is unconditional for Swiss institutions to uphold the democratic values that they are bound to in their mission to provide education, guaranteeing liberty of thought and expression.