Swiss' plan to jail criminals among strictest in Europe

By The New York Times

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GENEVA, Switzerland — The Swiss will vote today on an initiative that would send certain violent criminals to jail for life unless scientific studies show they could be cured of their violent tendencies.

If the initiative gets a majority, Switzerland will put into effect one of Europe's harshest laws on violent criminals and pedophiles.

Under the Swiss system, any Swiss citizen can initiate such a vote as long as the proposal does not violate Swiss or international law.

This one was put together by sisters Doris Vetsch and Anita Chaaban. Vetsch's 13-year-old daughter was raped in 1996. The sisters were appalled that her attacker, sentenced to 18 years in prison, could eventually go free.

"We realized something was wrong with the justice system," Vetsch said.

Initiatives get on the ballot if their supporters collect 100,000 signatures in 18 months, but it is rare for individuals to succeed.

"It was terribly difficult at first," Vetsch said. "We had absolutely no idea how to go about it and no experience of politics. No one took us seriously."

Three months before the signature deadline, they still needed 60,000 signatures. The campaign seemed doomed to failure. Then, a child was abducted and raped in the canton of Aargau in the north, and the sisters were invited to appear on Swiss television.

"After that, the phone didn't stop ringing for days," Vetsch said. "Everyone wanted to sign."
 
Within weeks, they had 195,000 signatures.

Swiss justice officials and members of Parliament have met with the sisters several times to try to persuade them to withdraw the measure.

Heinz Sutter, director of the legal department in the Swiss Justice Ministry, said the initiative was "full of holes."

Sutter said a recent change in the Swiss criminal code that comes into force in 2006 would be more effective in dealing with dangerous criminals.

No polling has been done on the possible outcome of the initiative vote.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company