Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA

National human rights institution to be established in Switzerland

On 1 October 2021, Parliament passed the bill to create a national human rights institution (NHRI) in Switzerland. The pilot project of the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Human Rights (SCHR) will thus be replaced by a permanent institution for the protection and promotion of human rights in Switzerland as of 2023.

A working group consisting of representatives of the Swiss government, the extra-parliamentary commissions, the cantons, civil society and the business community was set up in the spring of 2022 to carry out the necessary preparatory work for the establishment of this institution. The working group has the mandate to prepare a draft of the statutes of the future NHRI and to convene the founding assembly.

Regarding the founding process of the NHRI, the working group has met regularly since it was set up and organised a public information event in Bern on 1 December 2022.

The founding assembly of the NHRI is scheduled for May 2023.
 

Members of the NHRI working group

  • Christine Löw (coordination), deputy head, Peace and Human Rights Division (PHRD), FDFA (from August 2022 to January 2023 replaced by Gilles Roduit, deputy head, PHRD)
  • Doris Angst, vice-chair, SCHR Advisory Board
  • Cordelia Ehrich, legal expert, Federal Office of Justice
  • Bettina Fredrich, head, Federal Commission for Women's Issues (FCWI)
  • Ulrich E. Gut, president of the Unser Recht association
  • Erich Herzog, member of the executive board, economiesuisse
  • Caroline Hess-Klein, deputy director, Inclusion Handicap
  • Matthias Hui, coordinator of the NGO platform Human Rights Switzerland
  • Michael Ineichen, head of advocacy, Amnesty International Switzerland
  • Amina Joubli, researcher, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), EAER
  • Claudia Kaufmann, former ombudsperson of the City of Zurich
  • Regula Mader, president, National Commission for the Prevention of Torture (NCPT)
  • Andreas Rieder, head, Federal Office for the Equality of People with Disabilities (FBED), FDHA
  • Dea Rolih, deputy head of foreign policy, Conference of Cantonal Governments (CCG)
  • Christoph Spenlé, deputy head, Human Rights Section, Directorate of International Law (DIL), FDFA
  • Evelyne Sturm, managing director, Swiss Centre of Expertise in Human Rights (SCHR)

Public event on 1 December 2022

Public event on 1 December 2022 in Bern to inform interested parties

Invitation (PDF, 1 Page, 52.5 kB, German)

Other languages

Program (PDF, 1 Page, 247.2 kB, German)

Other languages

Review (PDF, 1 Page, 435.7 kB, German)

Other languages

Links

Last update 13.02.2023

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