Just six months after its launch, the Alliance against Arms Exports to Civil War Countries submitted its corrective initiative on 24th June. The Corrective Action Initiative calls for an export ban on Swiss weapons to countries at war or countries where human rights are systematically violated. Thanks to massive popular support, the Alliance has succeeded in collecting more than 134,000 signatures within a very short time.
"We would like to thank all those who have been involved in collecting signatures. Only through strong voluntary commitment was it possible to collect so many signatures in record time," emphasized Lewin Lempert, Co-President of the Alliance against Arms Exports to Civil War Countries and GSoA.
The broad support for the initiative was also evident when the signatures were officially handed over to the Federal Chancellery: more than 300 people gathered on the Federal Terrace during the submission process and symbolically showed the supporters of relaxed export criteria for weapons the red card.
For terre des hommes schweiz is clear: if we are committed to peace and human rights in the world, we cannot accept a loose control of arms exports. Swiss weapons must not be sold to governments that use them against their own people. It is precisely from our project partners in Brazil that we learn first-hand how state security forces commit serious human rights violations. In 2018 alone, 6,160 people were shot dead by police there, and the trend is rising. Facts about police violence must be taken into account much more strongly when decisions are made on whether or not to authorise arms exports. That is why we will be campaigning in the vote for stricter criteria for arms exports.
