The Fichenaffäre or Secret files scandal shook public opinion in Switzerland in 1989. That year, it was revealed that the Swiss federal authorities, as well as the cantonal police forces, had put in place a system of mass surveillance of the population.
First page of the file about the Swiss writer Max Frisch (in German)
Following allegations that within the Federal Department of Justice and Police (EJPD), the Bundespolizei (BUPO, now Swiss Federal Police) charged with domestic intelligence was illegally keeping secret files on both Swiss citizens and foreigners, a special parliamentary commission (PUK EJPD) was established. It gave its report in November 1989, demonstrating that the BUPO had kept more than 900,000 files in secret archives.[1] Files targeted Eastern European nationals, but also Swiss citizens, organizations, firms, and various political groups, mostly on the left.
The scandal led to the reorganization of the BUPO, which since 1992 has been observed by a delegation of a Parliamentary Commission.[2]
Second commission and discovery of P-26edit
Furthermore, similar allegations concerning the Defence Ministry and its UNA department (Untertruppe Nachrichtendienst und Abwehr) emerged, to the effect that they too were storing files. The Defence Department denied these charges, but a new parliamentary commission (PUK EMD) was formed in March 1990, under the direction of Senator Carlo Schmid, with the task of investigating the Defence Department. In November 1990, this second commission confirmed the existence of secret, illegal files, as well as revealing the existence of P-26, a secret stay-behind army, and a secret intelligence gathering unit called P-27, both hidden in the Swiss military secret service UNA.[1] Only a month before, the Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti had revealed the existence of Gladio, a NATO stay-behind network in all European countries.[citation needed]
Transfer of filesedit
The police files themselves were transferred to the Swiss Federal Archives. A jurist, René Bacher, was designated "special officer" to take care of the political scandal. 300,000 people requested to see their files following the revelation of their existence.[3] The records are open to public access for historical research when the last entry is older than fifty years. More recent records may be open on request. Records on living people are closed to public access for reasons of confidentiality.
2005 trialedit
Left-wing activists had been the object of surveillance by Swiss authorities since the 20th century. In 2005, a Swiss trade-unionist indicted for having blocked public transport in Geneva was surprised to see that the police files contained all of his activities since 1965, although he had never been indicted before. The court had asked the police for his file. Rémy Pagani, also a member of the Syndicat des services publics (SSP, Public Services Trade-Union) and MP for the Alliance de gauche (Left-wing coalition, a party based in Geneva), confirmed during the same trial that the file listed his presence in demonstrations where he had not been arrested, as well as his participation in the occupation of a building in support of Nelson Mandela, although he had not been arrested either for this act.[4]
According to Rémy Pagani, Bernard Ziegler, state counsellor in Geneva, had ensured after the files scandal that only those files containing information on crimes for which the citizen had been convicted would be kept. However, the 2005 trial showed that it hadn't been the case.[4]
See alsoedit
Card index affair (national card index database kept by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Switzerland - see Case of Amman v. Switzerland at the European Court of Human Rights, 16 February 2000
^Public statement concerning the Bacher report, May 1996.
^Les services de renseignements suisses 2007-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, p. 27.
^ abL'inculpation des syndicalistes fait resurgir les fiches 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, Le Courrier, March 1, 2005 (in French).
Further readingedit
JOST Hans Ulrich, VUILLEUMIER Marc, UDRY Charles-André (et al.). Cent ans de police politique en Suisse (1889–1989). Histoire. Coéd. AEHMO (Association pour l’étude de l’histoire du mouvement ouvrier), Editions d’En Bas, Lausanne
Engeler, Urs Paul (1990). Grosser Bruder Schweiz: wie aus wilden Demokraten überwachte Bürger wurden: die Geschichte der politischen Polizei. Weltwoche-ABC-Verlag, Zürich 1990.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Secret files scandal.
from the Member of the Swiss National Council Josef Lang on the non-censored publication of the Cornu report (administrative investigation on the relations between P-26 and others similar organizations in Europe)
secret, files, scandal, fichenaffäre, shook, public, opinion, switzerland, 1989, that, year, revealed, that, swiss, federal, authorities, well, cantonal, police, forces, place, system, mass, surveillance, population, first, page, file, about, swiss, writer, fr. The Fichenaffare or Secret files scandal shook public opinion in Switzerland in 1989 That year it was revealed that the Swiss federal authorities as well as the cantonal police forces had put in place a system of mass surveillance of the population First page of the file about the Swiss writer Max Frisch in German Contents 1 The scandal 2 Second commission and discovery of P 26 3 Transfer of files 4 2005 trial 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksThe scandal editFollowing allegations that within the Federal Department of Justice and Police EJPD the Bundespolizei BUPO now Swiss Federal Police charged with domestic intelligence was illegally keeping secret files on both Swiss citizens and foreigners a special parliamentary commission PUK EJPD was established It gave its report in November 1989 demonstrating that the BUPO had kept more than 900 000 files in secret archives 1 Files targeted Eastern European nationals but also Swiss citizens organizations firms and various political groups mostly on the left The scandal led to the reorganization of the BUPO which since 1992 has been observed by a delegation of a Parliamentary Commission 2 Second commission and discovery of P 26 editFurthermore similar allegations concerning the Defence Ministry and its UNA department Untertruppe Nachrichtendienst und Abwehr emerged to the effect that they too were storing files The Defence Department denied these charges but a new parliamentary commission PUK EMD was formed in March 1990 under the direction of Senator Carlo Schmid with the task of investigating the Defence Department In November 1990 this second commission confirmed the existence of secret illegal files as well as revealing the existence of P 26 a secret stay behind army and a secret intelligence gathering unit called P 27 both hidden in the Swiss military secret service UNA 1 Only a month before the Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti had revealed the existence of Gladio a NATO stay behind network in all European countries citation needed Transfer of files editThe police files themselves were transferred to the Swiss Federal Archives A jurist Rene Bacher was designated special officer to take care of the political scandal 300 000 people requested to see their files following the revelation of their existence 3 The records are open to public access for historical research when the last entry is older than fifty years More recent records may be open on request Records on living people are closed to public access for reasons of confidentiality 2005 trial editLeft wing activists had been the object of surveillance by Swiss authorities since the 20th century In 2005 a Swiss trade unionist indicted for having blocked public transport in Geneva was surprised to see that the police files contained all of his activities since 1965 although he had never been indicted before The court had asked the police for his file Remy Pagani also a member of the Syndicat des services publics SSP Public Services Trade Union and MP for the Alliance de gauche Left wing coalition a party based in Geneva confirmed during the same trial that the file listed his presence in demonstrations where he had not been arrested as well as his participation in the occupation of a building in support of Nelson Mandela although he had not been arrested either for this act 4 According to Remy Pagani Bernard Ziegler state counsellor in Geneva had ensured after the files scandal that only those files containing information on crimes for which the citizen had been convicted would be kept However the 2005 trial showed that it hadn t been the case 4 See also editCard index affair national card index database kept by the Public Prosecutor s Office of Switzerland see Case of Amman v Switzerland at the European Court of Human Rights 16 February 2000 P 26 Gladio Mass surveillanceReferences edit a b The British Secret Service in Neutral Switzerland Archived 2007 04 30 at the Wayback Machine Daniele Ganser in Intelligence and National Security Vol 20 nº 4 December 2005 pp 553 80 p 557 Public statement concerning the Bacher report May 1996 Les services de renseignements suisses Archived 2007 02 09 at the Wayback Machine p 27 a b L inculpation des syndicalistes fait resurgir les fiches Archived 2007 09 30 at the Wayback Machine Le Courrier March 1 2005 in French Further reading editJOST Hans Ulrich VUILLEUMIER Marc UDRY Charles Andre et al Cent ans de police politique en Suisse 1889 1989 Histoire Coed AEHMO Association pour l etude de l histoire du mouvement ouvrier Editions d En Bas Lausanne Engeler Urs Paul 1990 Grosser Bruder Schweiz wie aus wilden Demokraten uberwachte Burger wurden die Geschichte der politischen Polizei Weltwoche ABC Verlag Zurich 1990 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Secret files scandal Parliamentary motion from the Member of the Swiss National Council Josef Lang on the non censored publication of the Cornu report administrative investigation on the relations between P 26 and others similar organizations in Europe Portal nbsp Switzerland Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Secret files scandal amp oldid 1152519015, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
