Swiss apology to Libya criticized
An apology can certainly be effective or ineffective. It can be deserved or underserved. But can an apology be illegal?
I don't think so.
The president of Switzerland recently apologized for an incident in which the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was detained in Geneva. The detention of Hannibal Gadhafi and his pregnant wife was in connection with allegations of mistreating two domestic servants. The allegations were withdrawn and the two were allowed to leave.
But the incident prompted Libya to retaliate. Libya ended bilateral co-operation programs, placed restrictions on the operation of Swiss companies in the country, cut oil supplies to Switzerland and withdraw assets from Swiss banks. Libya also detained two Swiss engineers.
Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz apologized for the detention:
We are apologizing for what happened to Hannibal Gadhafi and the two sides agreed to form a committee to discuss the matter. The Swiss government is sorry for the unjust arrest of Libyan diplomats by Geneva police.
As a result of the apology, the Libyan government has re-established political and economic ties with Switzerland. The two Swiss engineers were released. The apology did everything an effective apology is meant to do.
But that didn't stop leaders in Switzerland from criticizing Merz for providing an "illegal" apology.
Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpft accused Merz of overstepping his bounds. Under Switzerland's federalist system, cantonal regional governments are given wide-ranging powers including policing and it doesn't appear the Swiss government can legally apologize in the case, she said. Constitutional lawyer Thomas Fleiner told the Swiss News Agency the agreement appears to undermine Swiss law.
The critics say that the Swiss president's apology was illegal. But what they appear to mean is that it was unwise or undeserved. Maybe it was unwise or undeserved. I don't know. But it certainly was not illegal.
Merz's critics would have a better claim of discrediting the apology by saying it was illegitimate. In other words, that Merz had no standing to apologize for the activities of the Geneva police department.
In any event, what's the alternative to apology? To allow a minor diplomatic squabble to become an international incident with retribution and escalation. In my view, President Merz showed leadership. His apology was a sign of confidence, not weakness or appeasement as his critics suggested. Every nation makes mistakes. Switzerland is a country with a tradition of secrecy. It's difficult for a culture of apology to take root in such a tradition, but history shows that secrecy can and has been abused. The transparency afforded by the occasional apology may be just the counterbalance to secrecy that Switzerland needs.
Leave a comment