About us

The SHRI is Switzerland's independent national human rights institution. It contributes to the protection and promotion of human rights in all areas of life and at all levels of government in Switzerland.

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As a national human rights institution, it works on the basis of the UN's Paris Principles. These require legal anchoring of the institution, a comprehensive mandate for the protection and promotion of all human rights, independence, in particular from other institutions, the government and parliament, a pluralistic composition and sufficient public funding.

The SHRI is a public corporation structured similarly to an association. It is autonomous, politically, institutionally and ideologically independent, and determines its own focus and the use of its resources.

What we do

The mission of the SHRI is to represent the interests of all population groups and campaign for their rights. It cooperates with authorities at all levels of government, with representatives from business and academia, civil society, in particular with human rights organisations. It informs the public, administration, and politics and economic entities about topics pertaining to human rights. It analyses the implementation of human rights in Switzerland, indicates gaps, indicates opportunities for improvement, initiates dialogue and participates in political discourse.

The tasks of the SHRI enshrined in the Federal Act on Civilian Peacebuilding and Promotion of Human Rights include in particular:

• Information and documentation on the human rights situation in Switzerland;

• Practice-oriented research on human rights violations, legal and institutional deficits and strengthening human rights protection in regard to legislation, jurisprudence and administrative practice;

• Advising the administration of the federal government, cantons and municipalities as well as the economy sector and civil society organisations on the implementation of human rights;

• Promoting dialogue and cooperation and thereby creating synergies between government agencies, academia, the economy sector and civil society;

• Human rights education at all levels of education and training, as well as raising awareness among the general public to strengthen the protection of human rights;

• International exchange, especially with other national human rights institutions.

The SHRI performs important functions for the human rights mechanisms of the UN or the Council of Europe. It can cooperate in state reporting procedures on individual human rights covenants, promote the implementation of the recommendations by the state or promote the ratification of new human rights treaties.

The international network

The SHRI cooperates with other national human rights institutions (NHRI) globally within the network of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and throughout Europe within the framework of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI). The NHRIs exchange experiences and learn from each other. They are committed to strengthening universal human rights by collaborating on joint communications protection from common standpoints. And they raise their voices for NHRIs whose work and independence are at risk.

Legal basis

The establishment and financing of a National Human Rights Institution is laid down in Articles 10a – 10c of the Federal Act on Civilian Peacebuilding and Promotion of Human Rights. Parliament revised the law accordingly in autumn of 2022.

Origin

1991–1993: Resurgence of human rights in the UN

After the end of the Cold War in 1989, the UN's human rights work received a new boost. In October 1991, the UN held a workshop in Paris on independent "National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights".

In June 1993, the UN hosted the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna. With this, the UN wanted to offer human rights work a broader foundation. The conference was a milestone in the development of international human rights protection.

In December 1993, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the establishment of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, which laid down principles and criteria for NHRIs. Since then, they have been known as the "Paris Principles" and to this day globally regulate the structure and activity of NHRIs with the following cornerstones:

• statutory provisions,

• broad mandate,

• adequate infrastructure and resources,

• Independence from government,

• pluralist representation of social forces,

• accessibility for particularly vulnerable groups.

2000–2011: The beginnings in Switzerland

Switzerland joined the UN in 2002. In the 1990s, it had previously ratified several UN human rights conventions. This increased the requirements for human rights work in Switzerland, both in implementation and in reporting to the UN. There were first calls for a National Human Rights Institution. In 2000, Swiss non-governmental organisations formed the NGO Working Group on the Human Rights Institution, which subsequently promoted such a project. In 2001, over a hundred NGOs, trade unions, church institutions and well-known personalities called for the creation of a National Human Rights Institution for Switzerland. Also in 2001, National Councillor Vreni Müller-Hemmi and Councillor of State Eugen David submitted parliamentary initiatives (01.461/01.463).

In 2003, the FDFA prepared a report on behalf of Parliament on the Possibilities for the creation of a national human rights institution. In 2006, the Förderverein Menschenrechteinstitution Schweiz was established and published a call for the creation of an NHRI. In 2008, the Federal Government's working group “Nationale Menschenrechtsinstanz” published a report.

2009–2022: The SHRI is created

In 2009, the Federal Council decided to create a 'university service centre' as a pilot project. In 2011, the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Human Rights (SCHR) began its work: a network of six thematic areas at five universities and one coordinating office. The SCHR was primarily dedicated to research and advice for public authorities. It could not act on its own accord and had no independent budget capability. There was no independence.

In 2015, the work of the SCHR was evaluated externally. On the one hand, the evaluation showed a great demand for the services of such an institution. On the other hand, it became clear that the SCHR could not have a broad impact with its limited resources. On these grounds, the federal government extended the pilot project for another five years and again later until 2022.

For years, the UN Human Rights Council and other UN human rights bodies as well as the Council of Europe called on Switzerland to establish an independent NHRI. In Switzerland, the NGO platform Human Rights Switzerland, in particular, maintained the pressure; among other things, it had already designed a model for an NHRI in 2014.

In 2016, the Federal Council made a landmark decision to create a National Human Rights Institution. In 2017, it sent a preliminary draft of a legal foundation for consultation. Despite broad support for the project, this did not result in a uniform overall picture. The project stood still for a few years. Only in December 2019 did the Federal Council adopt its draft of a legal foundation: a new article in the existing "Federal Act on Civilian Peacebuilding and Promotion of Human Rights", which regulates the mandate, shape and areas of activity of the National Human Rights Institution. In autumn of 2021, the National Council finally passed the relevant revision of the Federal Act on Civilian Peacebuilding and Promotion of Human Rights by 142 to 54 votes and the Council of States by 38 votes to 5.

2023: The formation

In April of 2022, the federal government formed a working group consisting of representatives of civil society, extra-parliamentary commissions, various federal agencies, the Conference of Cantonal Governments and the business community. The group developed the articles of association of the future association, sought persons for the board and prepared the founding meeting.

On 23 May 2023, after thirty years of international and more than twenty years of national historical background, the SHRI was founded in Berne, in the presence of around one hundred founding members and representatives of various institutions.