Yves Sandoz: “Switzerland’s neutrality is far less absolute than the ICRC’s”

Switzerland’s neutrality is not as absolute as the neutrality of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Yves Sandoz says. The distinction carries particular weight as Switzerland debates whether to write the principle into its Constitution.

The ICRC is not intervening in the heated campaign over the issue after the federal vote scheduled for Sept. 27. Supporters want neutrality enshrined in the constitutional charter, while opponents reject fixing it there.

The Geneva-based humanitarian organization is nonetheless closely connected to the question. Its emblem reverses the Swiss flag, and its work depends on a form of neutrality that is related to Switzerland’s but does not carry the same meaning.

Sandoz, a former director of international law and doctrine at the ICRC, makes no attempt to hide that connection as the debate grows increasingly contentious. The organization remains outside the political argument, while recognizing that the two principles continue to be discussed together.

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Switzerland’s neutrality is far less absolute than the ICRC’s.