The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday found Switzerland guilty of discriminating against a black man in Zurich in 2015.
The man, of Kenyan origin, refused to show his identity and was fined. Three Swiss courts upheld the police officer who conducted the examination, but the European Court ruled differently.
According to the court, the identity check was a form of racial profiling, which contravenes the prohibition of discrimination set forth in the European Convention on Human Rights. The court said that Swiss courts should have taken this into account when assessing the fine.
The court recognized that a police officer had to make a quick decision without clear legal guidelines. The court noted that Switzerland has no legal provisions on racial profiling, which could lead to discriminatory identity checks.
The court described the case as a “touching case” of particular importance for the development of human rights protection. The Court wanted to use this case to answer some fundamental questions for all member states of the Council of Europe.
Racial profiling is a practice in which police treat people of alleged ethnic origin as suspects based on physical characteristics. In May 2021, the European Agency for Fundamental Rights published a report on the level of discrimination against ethnic minorities by European police forces.
The report found a general trend of ethnic minorities being stopped and searched more frequently across the continent.
