Swiss Review / December 2021 / No.6 9 many politicians were happy to see poorer Swiss choose the cheapway out via the colonial army,” he writes. But besides fleeing from poverty, many mercenarieswere also inspired by the notion of adventure. Romantic visions of the tropics quickly gave way to harsh reality. Almost half of the mercenaries in Indonesia died in service. In addition, Swiss soldiers in foreign forces were unable to pursue a military career beyond their mercenary rank. Many regretted their step and turned to their local Swiss consulate in the hope that it could extricate them from their contracts – mostly, however, in vain. Since 1927, foreign service has been prohibited under the Military Criminal Code. Following the Second World War, an average of 240 mercenaries were convicted each year of joining the French Foreign Legion despite the ban. Nowadays, such cases are fewand far between. Switzerland’s judiciary came down hard on the 800 or so men who served on the side of the SpanishRepublicans against Franco’s Nationalists from 1936 to 1939. These activists, who fought for freedom and democracy, received a pardon from parliament 70 years later. Ban on mercenary firms Mercenary firms have been explicitly banned in Switzerland since 2013. It is illegal for Swiss-based private security companies to take part in armed hostilities abroad or recruit mercenaries for this purpose. On introducing the ban, the justice minister at the time Simonetta Sommaruga (SP) stressed that Switzerland was taking responsibility: “We cannot be indifferent to what Swiss-based companies do abroad.” THEODORA PETER Further information Swiss soldiers in foreign service (Swiss Federal Archives): revue.link/soldiers Swiss mercenaries in Indonesia (Swiss National Museum): revue.link/mercenaries arms. Take the training aircraftmade by Swiss aerospace company Pilatus, for example. Pilatus is free to export these planes to countries including the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, all of whom are involved in the war in Yemen. The issue of whether Qatar can order more air defence cannons from Switzerland in the future depends on how the Federal Council views the country’s human rights situation. At present, the emirate is not involved in armed conflicts such as the one in Yemen. However, Middle East experts say that the rich desert nation in the Persian Gulf is determined to become a regional power. This increases the danger of it becoming embroiled in future conflicts that potentially result in violations of international humanitarian law – the last thing that Switzerland, the depositary state of the Geneva Convention, actually wants. Swiss arms exports at a record high Last year, Switzerland exported arms worth some 900 million Swiss francs – 24 per cent more than in the previous year andmore than at any other time in recent years (see table). However, arms account for a tiny 0.3 per cent share of Switzerland’s total exports. Denmark and Germany were the leading recipients of Swiss arms exports in2020. Europe accounted for around 60 per cent of exports. The next importantmarketwas Asia. Some of themore controversial recipients included Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman andPakistan. Dressed to kill: the mercenary Gall von Untervalden. Coloured wood engraving from around 1520–1530. Photo: Keystone
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