UN expert calls on Swiss to maintain funding

The Swiss government is facing calls by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture to boost its financial support for the independent mandate. Nils Melzer, a Swiss national appointed to the post last year by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, urged the foreign ministry to help ensure the financing. He said the government had no legal obligation to fund the post, but the decision would undermine Switzerland’s credibility in its fight against torture worldwide and Geneva’s image as “capital of human rights” if his office suffered from a lack of financing. The foreign ministry in December announced it would stop funding the post of assistant to the rapporteur due to spending cuts decided by parliament last year. The Swiss government contribution – CHF120,000 ($119,000) annually – formally pays towards a chair at Geneva’s Academy for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Melzer said he could try to find funding from private sponsors, but this ...

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