PostedSeptember 6, 2022, 9:13 PM
National Commission for the Prevention of TortureShe had to breastfeed in handcuffs before being expelled from the country
A commission issues reprimands to the authorities after witnessing some cases of forced dismissal. The Confederation denies it.
The police deployment to remove a family was analyzed by the commission against torture.
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“Overall professional and respectful.” The first observation of the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture (CNPT) is positive but quickly gives way to criticism. This independent body followed around thirty deportations from the country by air under duress between April and December 2021 and has just published its report.
Among the cases reported, that of a family of four to be deported from Geneva. The woman, four months pregnant, was handcuffed in front of her children. “She had to breastfeed with the handcuffs, which were not removed either during the examination carried out by the doctor”, says the CNPT, which considers the practice “degrading and inhuman”.
She also criticizes the massive device put in place by the Geneva police. No less than 45 police officers were present. “Such a massive intervention can have traumatic consequences for children,” the commission said.
“The police justified their way of proceeding by the threats of the father who had indicated his will to resist the dismissal and to attack his children if it were carried out. The police feared that the family would defend themselves from the fourth floor, which required the intervention of firefighters with mattresses,” notes the CNPT.
A “false impression” of number
A committee of experts commissioned by the Federal Department of Justice and Police responded to the criticisms. He finds that “the commission has analyzed certain dismissals from various angles and that, consequently, the cases in question are mentioned several times, which gives a false impression of an accumulation of problematic dismissals”. In addition, “the persons concerned had the possibility of leaving the territory freely by benefiting, insofar as the law allows it, from return assistance”.
Regarding the pregnant woman, the experts point out that “pregnant women are generally not hindered during referrals” and that handcuffs are only used to prevent acts of violence or self-harm. They therefore refuse “any general ban” on doing so.
On the ground for a Covid test
The commission also looked into screenings under duress, necessary for certain dismissals and which had been denounced in particular by Amnesty International when the Federal Council had proposed them. “The Commission observed 17 stress tests at the airport. In two cases, the person was kept on the ground during the test by officers from the police escort,” she said, calling for these tests to no longer be carried out. The experts say that “the need to interrupt the collection due to medical risks has never arisen” and that the practice can continue.