Neutrality initiative could end Switzerland’s targeted sanctions

Switzerland’s neutrality initiative could require the country to abandon targeted sanctions against individuals such as terrorists, war criminals and dictators, although the consequences remain unclear, SRF reported.

One person affected could be Mohammed Ali Ahmed Subir, a Sudanese lieutenant general and military intelligence chief. He has been accused of serious human rights violations and war crimes, including the imprisonment of opposition figures, assaults on civilians and responsibility for sexual violence and rape.

The European Union has placed Subir on its sanctions list. People in the EU are prohibited from doing business with him, any assets he holds are frozen and he is barred from entering the bloc.

The EU has imposed similar sanctions on politicians, security personnel and businesspeople from countries including Haiti, Iran, Libya, Belarus, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Hamas leaders and their associates, as well as Russian oligarchs, are also on EU sanctions lists. Switzerland usually adopts EU sanctions, though not in every case, under its Embargo Act.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or Seco, says the purpose of such measures is to apply targeted pressure on responsible elites, senior regime members, armed groups and associated individuals and organisations. The United Nations Security Council also imposes sanctions, known as coercive measures, on states and individuals.

However, the permanent members of the Security Council can block sanctions with a veto, depending on their interests. Russia has prevented sanctions against itself and its allies. There are no UN sanctions against the leadership of Hamas or against leaders in Belarus.

The EU, and usually Switzerland, fills that gap. The SVP opposes this approach and wants a different sanctions regime.

SVP National Councillor Rino Büchel says EU and US sanctions achieve nothing, create unnecessary pressure and undermine Swiss neutrality. He argues that Switzerland should not adopt sanctions imposed by other states or organisations, while continuing to implement UN sanctions.

The popular initiative, formally titled “Safeguarding Swiss neutrality”, would define neutrality more precisely and bindingly in the Federal Constitution. It would largely ban economic sanctions, allowing Switzerland in principle to support only those adopted by the UN Security Council.

The initiative would also prohibit Switzerland from joining a military or defence alliance. Cooperation with such alliances would be allowed only in response to a direct military attack on Switzerland or to repel an immediately threatened attack.

The initiative was launched by the Pro Schweiz association and several SVP figures and was submitted in summer 2024. The Swiss Federal Council and Parliament recommend rejecting it.

The initiative’s wording has raised questions within the federal administration. It says Switzerland would not take military coercive measures “against belligerent states”. But Sudan is at war with its own population, Hamas is an armed non-state actor and Venezuela was never at war but was ruled by a dictatorship.

It is therefore unclear whether Switzerland would have to abandon sanctions against terrorists, war criminals and dictators if the initiative were approved. Büchel says UN sanctions would remain in place, but insists that Switzerland should not adopt sanctions imposed by other states or organisations. He adds that Switzerland could act if it were directly affected.

Seco has declined to assess what would happen to targeted EU sanctions against individuals. Its media office said that the impact on sanctions not directed against states would have to be examined if the initiative were approved.