Dossier #4

Human rights

Facing the tobacco epidemic: the human rights responsibilities of tobacco companies and the Swiss government

Tobacco prevention is part of a wider effort to defend human rights, in particular the rights to health and a healthy environment, as well as the rights of children. Although the link between the tobacco industry and human rights violations is still not widely recognised, it is gaining in importance in the public debate. The human rights approach can strengthen the fight against the tobacco epidemic, spread and maintained by the tobacco industry, particularly in Switzerland.

In this dossier, we examine how the tobacco industry violates human rights, for example by targeting young people in its marketing strategies or undermining smoking prevention efforts in Switzerland and elsewhere. We also highlight how Switzerland is failing to protect the human rights of its citizens by failing to take effective measures to prevent smoking and by putting the interests of tobacco multinationals ahead of public health.

Pascal Diethelm

Rapport - Droits Humains

Briefing paper

Human Rights denied : The responsibility of tobacco companies and the Swiss government in the tobacco epidemic

The rights to life and health, as well as other fundamental rights, are firmly anchored in global human rights standards set out in international treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Switzerland has ratified all these treaties.

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Executive Summary

Tobacco prevention is part of a wider effort to defend human rights, in particular the rights to health and a healthy environment, as well as the rights of children. Although the link between the tobacco industry and human rights violations is still not widely recognised, it is gaining in importance in the public debate. The human rights approach can strengthen the fight against the tobacco epidemic spread and maintained by the tobacco industry, particularly in Switzerland. This approach makes it possible to go beyond the mere health dimension of tobacco control.

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