The State of the World's Human Rights; Switzerland 2025

The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly were restricted at universities, with demonstrators unjustly prosecuted for protests against Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Due to a surge in femicides urgent measures to protect women from domestic violence were announced. Some rejected asylum seekers faced forcible return to Afghanistan.

Freedom of expression and assembly

The right to protest continued to be unduly restricted: authorization requirements, excessive liability of organizers and police tactics such as kettling, and the use of kinetic impact projectiles hindered peaceful assemblies. In a positive development, a number of local authorities started reviewing the police’s use of force against protesters in Lausanne¹, Geneva² and Bern.³

In May, the cantonal court in Fribourg ruled that an invoice of CHF 1,380 (EUR 1,440) issued to the organizer of a peaceful Palestinian solidarity demonstration lacked a valid legal basis and unlawfully restricted the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. The invoice had been submitted in November 2023 to cover costs relating to policing traffic during the event.

In July, an event organized by Amnesty International with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 was cancelled at the last minute by the University of Bern, which accused her of taking “unbalanced and extreme” positions.

In October, the Zurich District Court sentenced five students to suspended fines for trespassing following peaceful sit-in protests at the university ETH Zurich against Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. At least 10 people were awaiting trial.⁴

Gender-based violence

In June, the national committee responsible for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention announced emergency measures to tackle a surge in femicides, including more places in emergency accommodation and shelters. The police recorded 21,127 domestic violence offences, an increase of 6% on the previous year, with women and girls accounting for nearly 70% of victims. More than half of all the killings of women and girls took place in their homes. In November, the government launched the first national prevention campaign against domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

Discrimination

In July, the health department of the canton of Zurich called for a national ban on gender-affirming treatments for minors, which would undermine non-discriminatory access to healthcare for trans adolescents.⁵

In December, the Federal Council adopted the first national strategy against racism and antisemitism, following reports of an increase in complaints of racism to counselling centres and a surge in anti-Muslim and antisemitic incidents. In Switzerland’s report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), shortcomings were identified in the protection provided in civil law against discrimination, the systematic recording of racist incidents, and combating racial profiling.

In September, eight police officers were suspended by the city of Lausanne over discriminatory messages in WhatsApp groups amid allegations of systemic racism within the police force.

Refugees’ and migrants’ rights

In March, the State Secretariat for Migration announced that it would again permit deportations to Afghanistan for certain asylum seekers whose claims were rejected, violating the principle of non-refoulement.

In March, parliament passed a new asylum law providing a legal basis for coercive measures in federal asylum centres, such as the temporary detention of children over the age of 15.

In October, the Federal Council lifted temporary protection for people fleeing areas of Ukraine to which a return was deemed “reasonable”, even though no region in Ukraine was safe from Russian attacks.

In July, the CEDAW Committee ruled in three cases that Switzerland had violated the convention by ordering the return of survivors of gender-based violence to third countries despite lack of protection.⁶

Right to a healthy environment

Following the European Court of Human Rights’ landmark 2024 ruling in the case of KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland, the Council of Europe advised the government in September to establish an independent national body to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of Swiss climate policy and the achievement of Paris Agreement climate targets.

Corporate accountability

In May, a coalition of NGOs submitted a new Responsible Business Initiative to the government with over 280,000 signatures, calling for a strong and effective corporate accountability law.

1. “Switzerland/Lausanne: Enable protests whenever possible”, 19 September (French only) ↩︎
2. “Switzerland: Amnesty condemns police action against demonstrators in Geneva”, 10 October (French and German only) ↩︎
3. “Switzerland: Gaza protest in Bern: Unjustified and excessive use of police force”, 16 December (French and German only); ↩︎
4. “Switzerland: Gaza protests at ETH Zurich: protecting students’ freedom of expression and assembly”, 25 August (French and German only) ↩︎
5. “Switzerland: Healthcare for young trans people”, 2 September, (French and German only) ↩︎
6. “Switzerland Reprimanded by the UN Committee on the Status of Women (CEDAW): Endangerment of Asylum-Seeking Women” 26 August (German only) ↩︎

Associated documents