Terrorism—Switzerland

Switzerland has remained steadfastly neutral for centuries, which has “insulate[d] it from the wars, invasions, and revolutions that have raged outside its borders.”^[1] That neutrality, however, has done little to insulate it from “Islamic radicals” who have made “inroads in Switzerland.”^[2] Last month, Swiss authorities arrested a dozen individuals on charges they conspired to “shoot down an Israeli airliner flying from Geneva to Tel Aviv,” and in a related case, a North African individual was charged with plotting to blow up the Spanish supreme court in Madrid.^[3]

The Swiss Federal Police have cautioned the country that “previous assessments that the domestic risk of terrorism was nearly nonexistent” needed to be reversed and that “Switzerland had become ‘a jihadi field of operation.’”^[4]

Sweden, too, is facing terrorism issues, and that country recently “convened a top-secret closed trial of three terrorism suspects…. Authorities have not identified the suspects or disclosed any evidence” in the prosecution, which was allegedly begun at the behest of the British.^[5]

This revelation has sparked ripples of concern in India, which has recently arrested three individuals for the Mumbai bombings.^[6] This is because the Alps have become “a cherished destination of Bollywood producers for film shoots.”^[7] The industry originally moved there in the 1980s due to militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, and more than 75,000 Indian visitors visit Switzerland yearly.^[8]

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[1] Craig Whitlock, In Neutral Switzerland, A Rising Radicalism, Wash. Post, Jul. 20, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Krittivas Mukherjee, Indian Police Make First Arrests in Mumbai Blasts, Reuters, Jul. 21, 2006.
[7] Bollywood’s “Dream” Destination—Switzerland Under Terror Threat, ANI (via Yahoo!), Jul. 21, 2006.
[8] Id.