UDC wants to ban all demonstrations at the University of Geneva – rts.ch

Part of the political world is exasperated by the student mobilizations at the University of Geneva. Since 2022, several events have hit the headlines. Theinterruption of two conferences deemed transphobic by students in 2022 and missed scaling of the UDC national councillor Céline Amaudruz a few months later had already irritated the political world. The UNIGE had also filed a complaint for the first time against his own students.

Since the war in Gaza, it is above all the occupations of the University in favour of Palestine that have shaken Geneva. The Alma mater had filed a complaint again for trespassing against pro-Palestinian students, before withdrawing it.

Too much agenda

It is also necessary to recall the recent news of recent weeks with the diary episode deemed “pro-Palestinian” and distributed by the umbrella organization of student associations, the Conférence universitaire des associations d’étudiant.exs (CUAE). This agenda could cost the student umbrella organization dearly, because UNIGE is threatening to no longer recognize it, after having banned the distribution of this agenda. As an association recognized and registered by UNIGE, the student organization benefits from several financial and logistical aids, essential to its operation.

In response to these cases, the UDC wants to ban all political demonstrations inside and around the University. The party tabled a bill to this effect at the beginning of the week. It wants to make UNIGE a neutral place. Last May, the PLR ​​demanded the same thing via a motion. But the UDC is going further with its bill, which could be dealt with during the next parliamentary session.

Reactions from the academic community

Reacting to this bill, organizations like the CUAE oscillate between dismay and shock. From their point of view, the University has always been a place of debate, of political mobilization, where knowledge is not neutral.

Human rights groups such as the Association of Progressive Lawyers and the Swiss League for Human Rights share their concerns. These organisations consider this to be a serious attack on freedom of expression and freedom to demonstrate.

“The university is a public place, a place where it is permitted to demonstrate under Geneva law,” said Clémence Jung, co-president of the Association of Progressive Lawyers, on Saturday’s 12:30 news. “It is therefore an attack on freedom of association, freedom of expression and the freedom to demonstrate,” she said.

She notes that these attacks are not directly linked to the activities of students, but that they are part of a “continuous hardening on the issues of the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression.” “And violating freedom of expression is a violation of the rule of law.”

>> Read the article on the restrictions on the routes and times of events: Geneva decides on restrictions on routes and times of events

Radio topic: Mohamed Musadak

Web adaptation: itg