Swiss campaign groups have welcomed efforts by the government in attempting to track down and prosecute war criminals, with the creation of a dedicated task force earlier this year.
The director of Geneva-based ‘Track Impunity Always’ (Trial) Philip Grant hailed the move, saying,
“Switzerland is finally taking its international obligations more seriously,”
In particular the cases of Khaled Nezzar, the former Algerian defence minister and ex-Guatamalan police chief Erwin Sperisen were highlighted by Grant.
He went on to say,
“Once it is accepted that there is a shared responsibility by states, politicians will have to give their investigations the necessary resources and in the next ten to 20 years this [kind of work] will develop into something that is widely accepted”.
Switzerland's war crimes unit is currently reported to be handling 8 cases of suspected war criminals, with only 2 residing within Switzerland itself.
See more of Trial’s work on Sri Lanka, with the case of Major General Jagath Dias here and General Shavendra Silva here.
