Brief Review

Crime

Switzerland is one of the safest countries anywhere in regard to crime. The overall crime rate in 2006 was 38 offences per 100.000 inhabitants, largely consisting of property thefts (190.109). There were also 2.675 robberies and 639 reported rapes.

The rate of gun crime is extremely low. This is despite the fact that all Swiss men between the ages of 21 and 32 are required to keep a government-provided assault rifle in their home in case they need to be called to defend their country. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in the year 2000 there were .56 gun homicides per 100.000 people out of an overall homicide rate of 1.52 per 100.000. Assault and robbery are also rare, and most violent crimes involve foreigners who are residing in Switzerland, often illegally. The most common crime is of the pick-pocketing variety that is generally confined to the larger cities such as Geneva, Zurich and Basel, and on public transportation.

All Class A hard drugs, including heroin and cocaine, are completely illegal in Switzerland and being caught either in possession of these drugs or selling them holds stiff penalties, usually including prison time in Switzerland. The police attitude towards softer drugs such as hashish and cannabis is more ambiguous. While the possession or sale of these drugs is technically a crime, police often turn a blind eye to their discreet use, and prosecution for being in possession of small quantities of these drugs is not likely.

As for organized crime, in the 2006 Swiss Domestic Security Report it was reported that Switzerland witnessed criminal activities by people and structures from various origins and geographical areas, most notably by mafia-like groups and ethnic Albanian criminal gangs active in the heroin and prostitution racket. While criminal gangs from the area of the Commonwealth of Independent States (the former Soviet republics Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan), were noted especially for their involvement in money laundering, criminal West African networks were found to be active in cocaine trafficking and in a variety of frauds, including internet fraud.