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Statue of banker David de Pury in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is pressure cleaned after being painted blood red during Black Lives Matter demonstrations (2020)
Photo: Laurent Gillieron/dpa
Switzerland has a serious problem with systemic racism against people of African descent, a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council concludes.
Examples range from police brutality to child's play.
The UN Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD) noted countermeasures by Switzerland but continued to express concern about the spread of racial discrimination, highlighting several incidents following a visit to the country earlier this year.
"The pervasiveness and impunity of this misconduct suggests that a serious systemic problem exists," it said.
The report states that Switzerland was never a colonial power, but that its banks, businessmen and communities invested heavily in and benefited from the transatlantic slave trade.
The report cited efforts to raise public awareness of aspects of Swiss history, such as a petition and debate over the removal of a statue in the canton of Neuchâtel of a banker whose fortune was based on the exploitation of enslaved people from Africa.
On the other hand, an Alpine peak continues to be named after the naturalist Louis Agassiz, who is controversial because of racist theories.
Racist children's games and "shocking" police violence
According to the experts, playground games such as “Who's afraid of the black man?” also have a discriminatory effect.
The report also referred to "shocking" police violence and the deaths of several black men in the canton of Vaud.
"Switzerland agrees with your observation that racism and racial discrimination - including against people of African descent - are problems that urgently need to be addressed," Swiss Ambassador to the UN Jürg Lauber told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
He stressed that new measures had been taken to address the problems, including cantonal counseling centers for victims of racial discrimination, and pointed to improvements in police training programs.
However, according to "Blick", Lauber criticized that the UN expert group seemed to be based on many general conclusions only on individual cases.
These are not representative of the overall situation.
Furthermore, Switzerland accuses the group of experts that the report contains misunderstandings and assumptions that have no basis.
She regretted that the dialogue with the experts did not last longer.
jso/Reuters