Swiss Review / December 2021 / No.6 6 Focus THEODORA PETER The next FIFA World Cup kicks off on 21 November 2022. Hosts Qatar are currently bolstering theirmilitary arsenal to protectmatch venues and sovereign territory. After shopping around for hardware, the oil-rich emirate has commissioned Swiss-based armament manufacturer Rheinmetall Air Defence to supply it with air defence systems worth some 200 million Swiss francs. Cannon technology developed and built in Zurich will be at the Qataris’ disposal to shoot down enemy drones andmissiles with laser precision. The Federal Council approved the export deal despite many questions surrounding the human rights situation in Qatar, particularly with regard to the exploitation ofmigrant workers at theWorldCup construction sites. In 2019, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) concluded that serious and systematic human rights violations were being committed inQatar – theoretically a good reason for not exporting military equipment to the country. However, the Federal Council invoked its own escape clause dating back to 2014, which stated that weapons exports could still go ahead if there was a “low risk” of the armaments being used to violate human rights in the recipient country. In otherwords, the Swiss government believes that air defence cannons are unsuited to the purpose of suppressing your own people. Weapons in the wrong hands Arms exports are becoming increasingly contentious within Swiss civil society, especially in the light of repeated high-profile cases in recent years of weapons exported from Switzerland ending up in the wrong hands. For example, Swiss hand grenades originally delivered to the United Arab Emirates in 2003were found to have been used in the Syrian civil war. Qatar, for its part, illegally passed on Swiss munitions to insurgents in Libya ten years ago. This led to a moratorium on Swiss arms exports at the time. For the critics, these episodes show that arms exports involvemany risks, not least in terms of Switzerland’s reputation as a guardian of human rights. In 2018, a broad alliance comprising human rights organisations, relief agencies and political parties launched the “Correction Initiative”, which wanted to include a clause in the constitutionbanning arms exports to countries that are systematically violating human rights or involved in civil war or any other armed conflicts. The authors of the initiative aimed to stop the Federal Council from caving in to an arms industry pressing for export concessions. Theymanaged to collect well over the necessary 100,000 signatures within just a fewmonths. But no referendum will now take place. Parliament took the hint and has tightened the criteria for arms exports while removing the government’s escape clause. The campaigners have thereforewithdrawn their initiative because they believe that their demands have been met. Greater democratic control The “Correction Initiative” has essentially helped to “keep the Federal Council in check”, admits one of the campaigners, Josef Lang. The former Green National Councillor and co-founder of the Group for a Switzerland without anArmy (GSwA) would actually prefer a complete ban on arms exports. However, the Swiss electorate has reSwiss arms industry on the defensive Switzerland’s arms industry is booming as countries around the world increase their military firepower. But can a neutral country that prides itself on humanitarianism justify exporting arms at all? Pressure from civil society has forced policymakers into action. A highly sought-after Swiss export: the Piranha armoured personnel carrier by Mowag. Photo: Keystone
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