Geneva watchdog urges formal action against racial profiling

Geneva’s independent mediation body for disputes between police and the public has called for a formal institutional framework to prevent racial profiling and rebuild confidence in law enforcement.

The recommendations were published on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, as the body marked its tenth anniversary. The report makes Geneva a test case for how Swiss police institutions handle complaints about identity checks, discriminatory treatment and conduct that can deepen mistrust.

Racial profiling refers to targeted police checks based solely on a person’s skin colour or perceived ethnic background. The mediator says any response must measure the longer-term effect of those encounters on public trust, not only whether an individual check produced a police result.

The report calls on police to record complaints when members of the public decide to pursue them. Officers may explain other routes for making a complaint, but the information must be clear and delivered “without irony”. If the person still wants to complain, the case must be formally registered.

The mediator also recommends a ban on dehumanising language. Many disputes begin with exchanges that members of the public experience as “abrupt or discourteous”. The report says officers should greet people and use the formal French vous unless the person invites a more informal approach.

Those rules target the first moments of a police encounter, when a routine identity check can quickly become a dispute over dignity, authority and accountability.

The recommendations extend beyond identity checks. Interviews with minors should take place in suitable surroundings, the report says, because intimidating young people can undermine the purpose of the encounter.

At police stations, conversations with members of the public should take place out of earshot of others. Police staff should also avoid discussing cases where interviewees or detainees can hear them. Anyone deprived of liberty must be informed at the time of the intervention.

The mediator says authorities must monitor and follow up on the recommendations. That requirement places implementation alongside the wording of the rules, giving the proposals an accountability mechanism rather than leaving them as guidance alone.

The mediation body’s figures show a steady demand for its work. More than 130 people contacted it in 2025, a level that remained stable after an increase the previous year. The body opened nearly 70 cases, while around 30 cases were still ongoing when the report was published.

Most cases were initiated by members of the public. Geneva’s police command requested 12 of the cases. The mediator also closed more than 70 cases in 2025, and most disputes were handled within four months.

Geneva’s institution remains the only independent police mediation body of its kind in Switzerland, according to the report. Its anniversary recommendations now put the canton’s police leadership and political authorities under pressure to define who will implement the measures, how complaints will be tracked and how changes in public trust will be assessed.