GENEVA - UN human rights experts* today expressed alarm over the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) - a publicly funded Swiss university - pursuing criminal prosecution of students who peacefully protested its 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.
The experts noted that the collaborations reportedly involve universities that are integral to Israel's military-industrial complex, working on artificial intelligence, surveillance, and weapon technologies potentially used in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Until October 2025, ETH Zurich's website stated that no end-use controls existed over knowledge exchanged through fundamental research collaborations, and that the potential military application of its work could not be ruled out. While Switzerland introduced new dual-use export control regulations in May 2025, these do not apply to fundamental research. As such, responsibility largely appears to be delegated to individual researchers, without robust institutional oversight.
"The alleged integration of academic research into military systems raises serious questions of potential complicity in international crimes," the experts said.
"Universities, especially those receiving public funding, have a legal obligation to uphold human rights standards and refrain from supporting, directly or indirectly, any unlawful acts or occupations, such as Israel's control over the occupied Palestinian territory."
In May 2024, around seventy students staged sit-ins at the university, calling for transparency and disengagement from research linked to the Israeli military-industrial complex. The experts noted that police were reportedly called within minutes, a large security presence deployed, and the sit-ins forcibly dispersed, despite no teaching being interrupted and no violence occurring.
Following the protests, 38 students received penal orders, including 17 who chose to appeal despite the significant personal and financial risks involved. Recent court decisions have upheld trespass convictions against five students, while acquitting two others on procedural grounds. Decisions for the remaining ten students are pending.
"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.
"Universities and States must ensure that expressing solidarity with human rights causes and demanding accountability from State institutions, especially in relation to well-documented instances of international crimes, do not lead to intimidation, prosecution, or long-term harm to students' futures," they said.
The experts urged Swiss authorities and the judicial system to take full account of Switzerland's human rights obligations. They called for swift action regarding the potential complicity of research partnerships in international crimes and the criminalisation of peaceful student protests.
The experts have contacted the Swiss Government and ETH Zurich on this issue.
