Swiss vote could end arms re-export pledges

A proposed change to Switzerland’s War Materiel Act would largely end the requirement for arms buyers to promise not to pass on or resell weapons, SRF reports. Voters will decide on the law on November 29.

Under the current system, foreign governments buying weapons from Switzerland must give a re-export declaration. If the new law is approved, the Federal Council could require one only in exceptional cases involving foreign policy, neutrality or security concerns. It would not be obliged to do so.

Supporters say dropping the requirement would make it easier for Switzerland’s 36 partner countries, many of them NATO members, to exchange weapons systems. Mitte party MP Reto Nause says the countries want to be able to trade such systems with one another, and that access to Swiss weapons depends on it. The waiver could, in principle, benefit all countries receiving Swiss war materiel, not only the 36 partners he cited.

Opponents say they do not trust the Federal Council to require declarations from countries that pose a risk. Green Party MP Gerhard Andrey warns that Swiss weapons could end up in Sudan, Yemen or the Middle East. He argues that declarations should remain compulsory, saying Switzerland has had good experiences with them.

The practice dates back more than 75 years. In 1946, the Allied powers put pressure on Switzerland over its role in supplying weapons to Spain under Franco. The Federal Council had authorised weapons originally produced for Nazi Germany to be sent to Spain in 1944, according to research by historian Peter Hug.

After the United Nations Security Council began investigating in 1946 whether Franco’s Spain threatened world peace, Switzerland faced pressure to stop the deliveries. The Federal Council responded with a general arms export ban, which was lifted in 1949. Exports were then allowed on the condition that buyers promised not to pass on the weapons. Switzerland also wanted to prevent its arms from reaching communist countries during the emerging East-West conflict.

International law expert Evelyn Schmid of the University of Lausanne says international law requires states to prevent weapons from being diverted to unwanted recipients, such as terrorist groups or countries under arms embargoes. She says the proposed revision would largely remove that tool. Schmid also argues that the UN Arms Trade Treaty would be breached because declarations would be dropped altogether for individual components, assemblies and deliveries to private parties.