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Updated October 25th, 2021 at 12:35 IST

Switzerland: Thousands protest against 'discriminatory’ COVID-19 vaccine certificate

Protesting against new rule, thousands in Switzerland took to the streets demanding that Federal Council scrap the rule that was a threat to individual liberty.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Switzerland
Image: Twitter/@LMFireSystems1 | Image:self
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In apparent defiance against the Swiss COVID-19 immunity certificate, thousands of Swiss protesters held a rally in Bern, Lausanne, and other parts of Switzerland rejecting the introduction of what they labelled as the ‘discriminatory’ government mandate instated to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Swiss authorities announced earlier last month that the COVID-19 certificates will be mandatory for all adults over the age of 16, who are fully jabbed against respiratory ailment. 

The green passes were also mandated for all tourists travelling to Switzerland, as well as made essential for indoor dining, public venues, restaurants, cultural and leisure facilities, gyms, and public events. According to Schengen news agencies, the mandate was approved by the Federal Council after a meeting was held on September 8, and is expected to remain effective until January 24, 2022. 

“Based on the overall situation, the Federal Council has decided to extend the certificate requirement for persons aged 16 and over. This is to prevent hospitals from being overstretched. It will take two to three weeks for this measure to have an impact on the situation in the hospitals,” a statement from the Swiss Federal Council read, after the mandate was passed last month. 

'No one has right to infect others,' head of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health iterates

Protesting against the new rule, thousands of Swiss took to the streets demanding that the Swiss Federal Council scrap the rule that was a threat to the individual liberty and civil rights of the citizens, Swiss newspaper Le News reported on October 24. In the Swiss city of Lugano, thousands of protesters were converged by the Association named ‘Friends of the constitution’ to march in anti-COVID certificate rallies. A day before, 1,000 strong crowds emerged in Bellinzona and Locarno to calmly protest on the roads as the law enforcement authorities ensured law and order.

Daniel Koch, the former head of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health told Swiss outlet, “ Everyone has the right to take the risk of becoming ill. But no one has the right to infect others”.

A researcher on inequality and discrimination at the Center for Development and Cooperation at ETH, Dario Meili, also a notable Swiss figure from a public university in Zurich wrote on the university’s website: “The certificate obligation to access certain places is not discriminatory because one can freely choose to be vaccinated or not.” Furthermore, he described discrimination as “acts, practices or measures which disadvantage people because of their membership of a certain social group”, based on gender, ethnicity or religious belief.” 

The latter argued that the COVID-19 certificates were consistent with the Swiss Constitution. Since it ensured that the disease did not infect the general public, the Swiss government’s rule was in “public interest and the protection of the fundamental rights of third parties,” he wrote. 

In German-speaking states such as Baden and Rapperswil-Jona, around 1,500 protestors, accompanied by cowbell wielding “Freiheitstrychler” demonstrated against the COVID immunity document demanding that the Swiss government retract from the rule. The largest protests were witnessed over the weekend in Rapperswil-Jona, where an estimated 3,000 citizens marched to a car park chanting anti-COVID rule slogans, while in Bern, the protests largely turned violent due to clashes between the law enforcement authorities and the crowd of 300 people.

The officers used tear gas to disperse the angry mob and shot rubber bullets at some of the demonstrators that reportedly indulged in arson, damaging the public property. An initiative for a second referendum to reverse the COVID-19 certificate law was launched with a record 187,000 signatures. 

Image: Twitter/@LMFireSystems1

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Published October 25th, 2021 at 12:35 IST

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