President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter advocates global abolition of the death penalty
Bern, 25.09.2014 - At an event organised as part of the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly, the President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter called on countries to abolish the death penalty worldwide by 2025. He also set out Switzerland's position on other foreign-policy issues at a number of events. For example, he underscored the need for countries to work together to eliminate AIDS by the year 2030. Switzerland is also committed to restricting the Security Council veto in cases of serious human rights violations. In addition, Switzerland advocates measures for better protection against natural disasters, particularly in the area of water management. All of these issues coincide with the priorities of the Federal Council's foreign-policy strategy, which Switzerland also pursues within the UN, namely international security and organisational reform.
Around 100 states have abolished the death penalty while a further 60 or so have stopped applying it in the past decade. Since 2012, Switzerland has stepped up its efforts to bring about a complete global abolition of the death penalty by 2025 or at least a de facto worldwide moratorium on its use. Switzerland believes that the death penalty is as incompatible with the right to life as it is with a modern justice system geared towards rehabilitation and reintegration. "Unfortunately, human error can never be completely ruled out, even in the most modern and sophisticated legal system," said President Didier Burkhalter in his speech at the event Leadership andMoving Away from the Death Penalty, held on the margins of the High-Level Week of the 69th UN General Assembly in New York. In addition, as is well known, this anachronistic form of punishment is open to discrimination and abuse, with a disproportionately high number of vulnerable individuals and members of marginal groups sentenced to death, whether on the grounds of their political past or political views, religious convictions, socio-economic situation, sexual orientation or ethnic origin.
On 10 October 2014, the 12th World Day Against the Death Penalty, President Burkhalter, together with representatives from other countries on various continents, will publish a Joint Declaration calling for greater dialogue with states that still retain the death penalty. Isolating these countries is not the way forward, President Burkhalter made clear in New York today.
Natural disaster prevention
Prior to the event on death penalty abolition, President Burkhalter attended a meeting organised by Switzerland, Peru, Tajikistan and Thailand, focusing on measures to mitigate water-related disasters and crises. Between 1970 and 2012, President Burkhalter noted, weather, climate and water extremes caused almost 2 million deaths. Around 250 million people are affected by flooding, storms, droughts and earthquakes every year. Switzerland therefore attaches great importance to the issue of water and disaster preparedness as priority concerns in development policy as well as in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. President Burkhalter therefore referred in New York, among other things, to the new global agreement on climate change to be adopted in Paris in 2015, which also formed the backdrop to the climate summit in New York on Tuesday, at which Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard represented Switzerland.
Right of veto and measures to end AIDS by 2030
In the afternoon, President Burkhalter will take part in an event on the possible restriction of veto powers for Security Council members. Organised by France and Mexico, the event will look at restricting the veto in the Security Council in cases involving the most serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law. As part of its commitment to improving the Security Council's working methods, Switzerland advocates a voluntary relinquishment of the veto in such cases.
Finally, a UNAIDS-hosted panel discussion is examining possible ways of eliminating AIDS by 2030. As home to the key UN players in the field of health – including UNAIDS – Geneva is the hub of the fight against AIDS. Health is a focus of Swiss development cooperation and a priority for Switzerland in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.
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