SurveillanceSwiss approve broader surveillance powers for the government
A majority of 65.5 percent of Swiss voters have on Sunday approved a new surveillance law, agreeing with the government’s argument that that the country’s security services needed more powers in an increasingly dangerous world. Relative to other European countries, the Swiss police and intelligence agencies have had limited investigative powers. For example, the law which was updated on Sunday had banned phone tapping and e-mail surveillance under any circumstances.
A majority of 65.5 percent of Swiss voters have on Sunday approved a new surveillance law, agreeing with the government’s argument that that the country’s security services needed more powers in an increasingly dangerous world.
Relative to other European countries, the Swiss police and intelligence agencies have had limited investigative powers. For example, the law which was updated on Sunday had banned phone tapping and e-mail surveillance under any circumstances.
Al Jazeera reports that the Swiss government stressed it was not aiming to set up an agency similar to the U.S. NSA.
“This is not generalized surveillance,” Yannick Buttet, the Christian Democratic party vice president, told public broadcaster RTS as results were coming in. “It’s letting the intelligence services do their job.”
The Swiss defense minister, Guy Parmelin, said Switzerland was “leaving the basement and coming up to the ground floor by international standards.”
Parmelin noted that the Swiss system was not comparable “to the United States or other major powers,” which have struggled to find the right balance between privacy and security. Phone or electronic surveillance of a suspect must be approved by a federal court, the defense ministry, and the cabinet, according to the law approved in Sunday’s referendum.
The government made it clear that the new measures would be used only a dozen times a year or so, and only for the purpose of monitoring the highest-priority suspects, especially suspects implicated in terrorism-related activities.
The Swiss parliament had already approved the surveillance law in 2015, but an alliance of left-leaning parties managed to collect enough signatures to force Sunday’s referendum.
The turnout was low, with only 43 percent of voters participating.
Al Jazeeranotes that the referendum was overshadowing by a 1989 scandal, when it was revealed that the country’s intelligence and security agencies had actively monitored 900,000 Swiss citizens, tracking their political activities, trade union affiliations, and more. The public reaction was fierce, leading to the imposition of strict limits on the surveillance and investigative powers of government agencies.
The recent terrorist attacks in Europe have helped shift public opinion, which has become more supportive of bolstering measures to protect Switzerland.
Amnesty International criticized Sunday’s result, saying the new law would allow “disproportionate” levels of surveillance and that it posed “a threat to freedom of expression.”
Buttet said the reason behind the government’s push for the new measure was the fact that Swiss intelligence agencies had become too dependent on help from the intelligence and law enforcement agencies of other countries, and that the solution was to allow the Swiss security services to use the full range of modern investigative tools. “We were naive,” he said.
