Dismantling of Switzerland's Civil Defence - Risks and Dangers

by Hans Koefer, Bellikon (*)

Today the dangers and various threats to the Swiss population are several times greater than at the time when Switzerland's civil defence system was introduced and developed. At that time people wanted to protect themselves in particular from bombardments and the effects of poisonous gases. Knowledge and experience gained during the Second World War were pioneering. The dropping of atom bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the USA was likewise taken into account. Other kinds of threats were unknown then, because implementation had not yet taken place.

If quantified, the threatening dangers of our times are far greater for people and the world today.

1. Wartime situations can directly or indirectly also hit Switzerland at any time. Unfortunately, we are faced today by threats of war afflicting parts of the world or even the whole world. The idea that we will live in peace today and tomorrow is a reckless, irresponsible claim based on wrong premises. An Iraq war for example can have world-wide, tragic consequences. The war, which recently took place in the Balkans, only few hundred kilometres away from our border, shows how rapidly conflicts can escalate. Wars in Africa, South America and Asia, which nobody is able to stop, are a part of tragic everyday life. Millions of people are losing their life. The suffering and pain caused is almost inconceivable.

2. The use of bio weapons can tragically hit vast areas of people. Their protection must be planned and if necessary the care of those people affected, too. One of many threats by, for example, bio weapons is the danger of a smallpox epidemic brought about by notorious secret organizations, one of the new threat scenarios for mankind. Unprepared, millions of people would die. In the face of this new danger the German government is currently planning the inoculation of the whole population. And what are the responsible authorities in Switzerland doing?

3. With regard to the effect of nuclear weapons, Chernobyl showed what kind of long-term devastating and destructive consequences such a case can have on people and nature. The technology of nuclear weapons and their application has become so varied and this has meant their threat has also grown.

4. Natural catastrophes of the most diverse kind have increased significantly and more and more people have been affected by such catastophes. Scientific research sees one of the causes of these disasters in the increasing global warming. The serious consequences of these research results are concealed, and/or the media shirk from publishing them. The truth is suppressed. To whose benefit?

For the reasons mentioned and recognized, protection of the civilian population by means of the civil defence system is a national obligation and task, more than ever. Individual activities, in whatever form, are simply insufficient. Never before in the last fifty years have the various threats to our children and young people, to all of us, been or will be as immense as today. All those who could be affected are in need of protection. Human beings have to be the focus of our concern and not individual interests, and least of all any lobbyism. Dismantling civil defence in the present situation is irresponsible, incomprehensible. It is a sign of the thoughtlessness of those in charge. The question is again: who will benefit from such a decision, from doing such a thing?

As a result, civil defence must not be dismantled but updated, and updated to meet the various well-known and new threats. The Swiss people also have to realise what the situation is and stand up for what they want. The referendum for an effective civil defence merits the widespread trust and support of the Swiss people.

(*) Hans Koefer was former CEO of the Globus-Konzern, Zurich, and was appointed expert for general defence by the Federal Council, Department of Supply. He is also the author of the book: Harte Kriegsjahre -Jugenderinnerungen 1939-1945 (Hard wartime years - adolescent memories 1939-1945), Bellikon 1999