Swiss senators reject tighter laws on arms exports

Switzerland’s Senate has rejected two motions calling for stricter laws on exporting war materiel, according to Swissinfo.ch, part of the Swiss government’s broadcasting network, which reports that, ‘[O]n the recommendation of its security policy committee, the senate voted against two proposals…: one calling for parliament rather than the government to decide on permission criteria for arms exports, the other on stricter controls to prevent Swiss arms from landing in war zones.’

The recommendations, Swissinfo.ch notes, were derived from an initiative called ‘Against Arms Exports to Countries in Civil War’, proponents of which note that ‘weapons from Switzerland had landed in conflict zones after export to countries such as Thailand, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.’

For more on the initiative, see:
https://www.admin.ch/opc/fr/federal-gazette/2018/7697.pdf

For commentary on Switzerland’s arms export ‘dilemma’, see:
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/age-old-dilemma_swiss-arms-exports-still-at-odds-with-humanitarian-tradition/44389506