Country narrowly voted in favour of banning face coverings in public, including the burka or niqab worn by Muslim women Responding to the news that a Swiss referendum has voted in favour of banning the wearing of face coverings in public, Cyrielle Huguenot, Head of Women's Rights at Amnesty International Switzerland, said: “After the vote to ban minarets, Swiss voters have once again approved an initiative that discriminates against one religious community in particular, needlessly fueling division and fear. The ban on the full face veil cannot be viewed as a measure that liberates women. On

Draconian proposed new laws which would give police in Switzerland sweeping powers to target “potential terrorist offenders”, including children as young as 12, must be rejected, Amnesty International said today. The proposed anti-terrorism legislation would create extensive control orders that would limit a person’s right to liberty based on a vague suspicion that they might - in the future - pose a threat to national security. It would also give police exhaustive new powers - including the power to impose house arrest, travel bans, and electronic surveillance - with few effective safeguards

The UN Security Council must immediately refer the situation in Syria to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in line with a request made this morning in a new letter by dozens of UN member states, Amnesty International said this evening In a joint letter to the Security Council, Switzerland and 56 other states from all continents made the plea, noting the Syrian authorities’ failure to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity and war crimes committed since March 2011. Since then, according to the letter, “the situation on the ground has only become more desperate

Amnesty International is urging the Swiss authorities at all levels not to enforce the deportation of foreigners convicted of certain criminal offences if this will result in human rights violations, after voters backed the move in a referendum on Sunday. If the results of the referendum known as the ’Deportation Initiative’ are implemented, the Swiss constitution would be amended to permit the “automatic” and immediate deportation of non-citizens convicted for certain criminal offences to their countries of origin. According to media sources 52.9% per cent of the votes were in favour of the

A ban on the construction of minarets would breach Switzerland’s obligations to uphold freedom of religion, Amnesty International said ahead of a referendum on Sunday 29 November on a constitutional amendment on the issue. The proposal, which was initiated by members of two Swiss parties, will ask Swiss voters if they wish to add the sentence “The construction of minarets is forbidden” to Article 72 of the Constitution. The initiators of the referendum claim that the construction of minarets is not protected by the freedom of religion as they have “no religious significance”. They assert that