GENEVA

UN human rights experts on Tuesday voiced alarm over moves by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, known as ETH Zurich, to pursue criminal prosecution against students who peacefully protested the university's research partnerships with Israeli institutions.

"Publicly funded research must not contribute, directly or indirectly, to war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. States and institutions have an obligation to ensure that this does not happen," the experts said in a statement.

They noted that the collaborations reportedly involve Israeli universities that are closely linked to the country’s military-industrial complex, including work on artificial intelligence, surveillance and weapons technologies potentially used in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The experts recalled that until October 2025, ETH Zurich stated on its website that no end-use controls existed over knowledge exchanged through fundamental research collaborations and that military applications could not be ruled out.

While Switzerland introduced new dual-use export control regulations in May 2025, the experts said these do not apply to fundamental research, leaving responsibility largely with individual researchers and lacking robust institutional oversight.

"The alleged integration of academic research into military systems raises serious questions of potential complicity in international crimes," the experts said, adding that publicly funded universities have a legal duty to uphold human rights standards.

The statement also addressed the treatment of student protesters. In May 2024, around 70 students staged sit-ins at ETH Zurich calling for transparency and disengagement from research linked to the Israeli military. Police were said to be called within minutes and the protests forcibly dispersed, despite no violence or disruption to teaching.

Following the protests, 38 students received penal orders, with court rulings so far upholding trespass convictions against five students.

"Peaceful student activism, on and off campus, is part of students’ rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and must not be criminalised," the experts said, urging Swiss authorities and the judicial system to fully respect Switzerland’s human rights obligations.

They said they have contacted both the Swiss government and ETH Zurich regarding the matter.