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Switzerland agrees to return seized assets to Uzbekistan

Switzerland agreed on Tuesday to return to Uzbekistan millions in assets that were seized as part of criminal proceedings against the daughter of late Uzbek ruler Islam Karimov.

Published: 16 August 2022 15:57 CEST

Is moving to Switzerland for work worth it? Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash

(Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash)

Under the terms of the agreement — signed in Bern by Swiss President Ignazio Cassis and Uzbek Minister of Justice Ruslanbek Davletov — a total USD 131 million in confiscated assets will be used to set up a UN fund for sustainable development in the former Soviet republic.

“The fund will allow the returned assets to be used for the benefit of the population of Uzbekistan,” Cassis said during the signing ceremony.

Switzerland froze around CHF 800 million (USD 842 million) in 2012 in connection with criminal proceedings against Gulnara Karimova, the late Uzbek ruler’s eldest daughter, who is currently in jail on embezzlement and criminal conspiracy charges.

Approximately USD 131 million of that was definitively confiscated in 2019, and more could follow.

Bern insisted that the fund would not only be used for the amount currently seized, “but also for any assets definitively confiscated in the future in the ongoing criminal proceedings in connection with Gulnara Karimova.”

BACKGROUND: Uzbek leader’s daughter faces criminal probe

As “first daughter,” Karimova was among Uzbekistan’s powerful elite, serving in diplomatic posts, including in Geneva, and tipped as a potential successor to Karimov.

She organised a fashion week, had her own jewellery line, released pop singles and ran entertainment TV channels.

But several years before her father’s death in 2016, she suddenly fell from favour and feuded publicly with her mother and sister before being placed under house arrest.

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Could foreign residents in Bern be allowed to vote?

There have been two prior attempts in Bern to introduce voting rights for foreigners at the municipal level — both unsuccessful.

In 2010, voters rejected a popular initiative by 72 percent.

A decade later, in 2020, the proposal failed to gain support at the cantonal parliament.

Now, however, the prospect of extended political rights for foreigners appears to be on a more solid grounnd: the cantonal government has asked the local parliament on Monday to accept the motion to that effect submitted by several parties.

The government did say it believes (as do authorities in other cantons) that naturalisation still “offers a best path to being able to have a say in politics,”

It added, however, “that naturalisation does not appear to be a real alternative in certain cases – for example for people from countries with a ban on dual citizenship”.

‘Optional’ voting rights

Foreigners can already vote at the municipal level, as is already the case in Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Jura (with the latter two also allowing voting on cantonal level).

However, unlike these five cantons, where ‘settled’ foreign nationals can cast their votes in all municipalities, Bern’s proposal is for ‘optional’ rights.

What does this mean?

Rather that making voting a political right across all communities, the canton woulld leave it up to each municipality to decide whether its resident foreigners should be allowed to participate.

Such a system already exists in three other cantons: Basel-City, Graubünden, and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden have given their communes an option to introduce the right to vote, the right to elect, and the right to be elected for their non-Swiss residents.

However, only few of the communes in these cantons have actually introduced these measures.

What will happen next in Bern?

The political will to implement this change is stronger than it was in the past.

Now the cantonal parliament will have to vote on the proposal. But even if it is approved, it may still end up in the ballot box, where it will be up to (Swiss) voters to make the final decision.

In Geneva too

Bern’s move comes just days before voters in Geneva will head to the polls on June 9th to decide whether foreign nationals living on their territory should be allowed to vote and run for the office in cantonal (rather than just municipal) referendums and elections.

READ ALSO: Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

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