Illegal adoptions / Sri Lanka: investigations requested from Switzerland

(Keystone-ATS)

A UN committee asks Switzerland for in-depth investigations into illegal adoptions in Sri Lanka during the 1970s to the 1990s. Berne must verify whether enforced disappearances have been perpetrated and guarantee reparations to the victims.

In their observations published Tuesday in Geneva, the independent experts of the Committee against enforced disappearances, who do not speak on behalf of the UN, welcome the regrets of the Federal Council last December. But during the recent hearing of the Swiss delegation, one of them said that a rich country like Switzerland "must do more" for these children now adults.

According to the committee, Berne must actively support these people in their search for identity. The Confederation must also verify that documents have not been falsified, concealed or destroyed. Reparations must be made, including if the violations were perpetrated in Sri Lanka.

In December, Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter announced that the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) would strengthen its relations with partner countries of origin and seek solutions with them for concrete cases. But she recalled that the task falls above all to the cantons.

More broadly, the committee is concerned about the lack of investigative power over complaints and monitoring in discussions on the launch of the future national human rights institution. A concern to which the Swiss delegation replied that it is linked to the responsibility of the cantons on police and judicial issues. The National Commission for the Prevention of Torture must be better equipped.

Appeal on detentions

The committee asks Switzerland to clarify what constitutes enforced disappearance in its Criminal Code. Likewise, he calls for a review of the minimum sentence of one year imprisonment for subordinates, given the seriousness of this crime.

Another reproach, the response times to a search, provided for by the 2016 implementing ordinance of the law on enforced disappearances, must be shortened to 24 hours. The network established between the Confederation and the cantons must be able to access any place of detention.

Switzerland must individually assess whether a person who is about to be deported could be the victim of an enforced disappearance in the event of return to his country. It should also allow rapid visits to relatives and lawyers of prisoners. And it must collect data on complaints and charges related to detention.

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