Switzerland: no racism in anti-Jewish comment
01 January 1991
Switzerland: no racism in anti-Jewish comment
artdoc April=1993
A first lieutenant from the Swiss army has been jailed for
five days, fined 700 Swiss francs and placed on two years'
probation after an action taken against him by a Jewish
soldier. The soldier had alleged that during a summer
recruiting school, the lieutenant had called him a `crippled
Jewish pig' and said that `a cow's drinking trough is just
right for Jews'. But the judge in Bern, in passing judgment
ruled that the lieutenant had not meant his comments as a
racist insult; it had simply been bad manners.
Apparently, the case had originally started in October but had
been delayed till January owing to the lack of preparation by the
military investigators (Tages-Anzeiger [TA] 28.1.93, DAZ
28.1.93).
Fires at refugee homes downplayed by police
Switzerland has seen a series of serious fire attacks on refugee
hostels. In most cases, however, the police seem to have
precipitately ruled out a racial motive with unseemly haste.
In January, in Aesch, Basel, a molotov cocktail was thrown
through the window of a refugee hostel housing Africans. Although
the local authority expressed shock at what they described as an
isolated incident, they failed to mention that there had been two
previous (unpublicised) attacks in Augustin Basel and
Munchenstein. Also in January, a refugee hostel, again housing
Africans, was set on fire in Sllschwil. In another incident in
the town, children aged between 10 and 15 threw stones through
the window - this has been described as a `prank' by the police
(TA 9.1.93).
Previous attacks through December and early January were also
downplayed by the police. In one incident on 31 December, a
firebomb was thrown through the door of a house where four
Albanians lived. Police ruled out arson as the cause of a fire
in Wolhusen which left three Yugoslavian families homeless (TA
4.2.93).
Court finds police officer not guilty of tolerating racist attack
A Swiss administrative court has found that the police officer,
Eugen Steiner, did not stand by and watch members of the
far-Right Patriotic Front attack a refugee hostel without
interfering. Previously, Steiner had been dismissed from his
position after he had been accused of tolerating an attack on an
asylum centre in 1990 (TA 22.1.93).
Tamil man shot in Bern
A Tamil man was waiting at a train station in Bern when he was
shot at from a distance by one member of a 40-50 strong group of
Swiss men. The 30-year-old Tamil suffered injuries to his
shoulders (Nzieger 15.2.93).
Army police Europe
IRR European Race Audit no 3, 1993.
Contact: Liz Fekete, Institute of Race Relations,
2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X 9HS. Tel: ++ 071 837 0041
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