On 24 June, the Swiss Government decided to impose coercive measures in response to the current situation in Nicaragua. Switzerland is therefore joining the European Union in imposing sanctions on Nicaragua due to ongoing violations against human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Our previous blog post on the EU’s recent imposition of sanctions is available here. The Swiss Federal Council has issued an Ordinance imposing financial and travel sanctions against six persons with…
On November 06, 2019, the Swiss Government adopted selective adjustments to the Swiss sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, thereby implementing the exceptions to the export ban agreed by the UN SC Sanctions Committee. The amendment will come into force on 1 December 2019.
On 28 March, 2018, the Federal Council adopted restrictive measures, namely an arms and repressive goods embargo and financial and travel sanctions, against Venezuela (Ordinance on Measures against Venezuela). It bans the sale, supply, export and transit to Venezuela of arms and goods which can be used for internal repression. A similar ban also applies to equipment, technology and software that can be used to monitor and intercept internet and telephone communications. Furthermore, assets have…
Today, taking effect at 6pm CET, the Swiss Federal Council further tightened sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), implementing UN Security Council Resolutions 2371 (2017) and 2375 (2017). As a consequence of the North Korean rocket tests on 3 and 28 July and the nuclear test on 2 September this year, in contravention of all previous UN Security Council Resolutions, on 5 August 2017 the UN Security Council issued Resolution 2371 (2017), closely followed by Resolution 2375 on 11 September 2017, tightening considerably the sanctions already imposed on North Korea. The resolutions include additional sanctions on the trade in goods, on the financial sector and on work permits. The Swiss Federal Council’s decree of today, 18 October 2017, implements these measures, which are binding under international law, by amending the Swiss Ordinance on Measures against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea of 18 May 2016. Work permits may no longer be issued to citizens of North Korea, with the exception of permits issued under employment contracts concluded before 11 September 2017. In the financial sector, joint ventures and cooperatives, both ongoing and new, with North Korean individuals or companies are no longer permitted. Existing joint ventures and cooperatives must be discontinued by 9 January 2018 at the latest.