Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Swiss Branch Given 30 Days to Comply with Swiss Law; Swiss Authorities Must Clarify Its Activities

Today, the Swiss Commerce register announced that it had given 30 days to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Swiss branch (GHF) to comply with legal requirements for foundations based in Switzerland. If it fails to do so within the prescribed period, the matter will be referred to the court or to the Federal Supervisory Authority (ASF), which will take the necessary measures. This could lead to the liquidation of the foundation in Switzerland.

That is, however, not enough.

The GHF’s aid distribution model in Gaza—marked by militarization and privatization—has, over the past three weeks, proven deadly and disastrous. It has, according to the UN, repeatedly resulted in civilian deaths and furthered displacement of famine-stricken Gazans, raising serious concerns about international law violations. As stated in a recent open letter signed by 15 human rights organizations, all individuals and entities involved in the GHF’s operations are potentially liable for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Switzerland, as a depositary state of the Geneva Conventions, has an obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law (IHL), particularly by entities based on its territory.

The Federal Department for Foreign Affairs (FDFA) has yet to comment on the compliance of the GHF with the Federal Act on Private Security Services Provided Abroad (PSSA).

We urge Swiss authorities to publicly disclose whether or not the GHF has conducted some of its activities from Switzerland, in an effort to promote transparency, especially when potential serious violations of international law are at stake.

As a reminder, TRIAL international had filed two submissions to the ASF and the FDFA respectively, in order to monitor, on one hand, the compliance of the GHF’s activities with its own statutes and the Swiss legal system, and on the other hand, with the Federal Act on Private Security Services Provided Abroad (PSSA).