Rejecting the uniform in 1989: story of a draft dodger

Swiss Pacifist Jailed for Deserter Combat

Until 1996, every Swiss man was subject to compulsory military service. Marcel*, a ‘loud-mouthed left-wing anarchist’, refused. His defiance led him to prison. He tells us about his primarily political fight.

Marcel became politicized at a young age, as he explains in an interview with Keystone-ATS. For him, having an army in Switzerland is ridiculous. ‘Switzerland should only promote peace, not prepare for war.’ He recalls the only times the army fired, it was against its own people, in 1932 in Geneva during an anti-fascist demonstration.

However, Marcel joined the army at 20 ‘to avoid trouble’. Moreover, he had just completed his apprenticeship in electronics. In this field, most companies were linked to the Confederation or the army at the time. Refusing military service had consequences on employment.

Deserter

He deserts after 33 days of basic training. ‘Too stupid,’ he says. He would rather serve society. He dreams of a civil service for national cohesion and would still prefer it today. He then writes a letter to the military department, now the Federal Department of Defence, explaining his refusal to serve.

He returns to civilian life and works for construction companies or at the CHUV. A year and a half later, he is summoned to the military court in Rolle (VD).

That day, instead of letting his court-appointed lawyer speak, he stands up and explains to the judge. He has no conflict of conscience and can bear arms. ‘I am here for political reasons,’ he tells the judges.

‘I wanted to go to prison. Otherwise, nothing would have changed,’ he confides forty years later. The president, a lieutenant colonel, sentences him to ten months in prison. He serves only six.

Getting What You Want

‘I was happy for him,’ a friend testifies. ‘He got what he wanted and was really willing to go to prison for his convictions.’

At that time, the army did not easily accept refusal to serve. It required motivation, evidence, and withstanding army pressure in the long term.

Ultimately, a conviction was a victory for a conscientious objector. It validated their stance.

In rare cases, especially in the early 1990s, conscientious objectors would escape prison sentences. Some were declared unfit for service by military justice. However, others remained in uncertain situations and could be called back to service or face a new procedure.

A ‘Loud-mouth’ Who Keeps Quiet

On November 6, 1989, Marcel enters prison. ‘Not calm.’ In the absence of a military prison, he finds himself in a civilian prison mingling with all types of common criminals.

‘I was young, 21, I knew nothing about prison life. I told myself ‘I have to keep quiet’ to avoid annoying anyone.’

And that’s what he does in the first few days. Then he quickly learns that it’s fine to talk to other inmates, but one must remain neutral in their opinions.

Some inmates explain the prison hierarchy to him: the small fish caught for weed; serious offenders like murderers; and at the top, the ‘big boss’, a drug trafficker.

‘But we, the army guys, we weren’t part of that hierarchy. To the other inmates, we had no business being there.’

1989: Army vote and Berlin Wall

1989 also marked the fall of the Berlin Wall. And the vote on the popular initiative ‘For a Switzerland without an army and for a comprehensive peace policy’. Marcel remembers it well: ‘I was in turmoil.’

His father, although pro-army, voted for the initiative. Like many acquaintances. ‘Things needed to change, people needed to feel involved.’ 35.6% of voters said yes. A figure that remains ingrained in Marcel’s memory.

‘That vote changed everything. I was no longer a fool who thought he could change things. It was a wake-up call from both sides. We had never imagined such a score.’ It also legitimized the Group for a Switzerland without an army (GsSA).

Everything Changes

And the bourgeois camp immediately shifts. This vote forces their hand on civilian service. These political events also give Marcel ‘an incredible morale’ to be in prison. He feels he did the right thing.

After two rejections of civilian service, in 1977 and 1984, public opinion changed. Sanctions against conscientious objectors were increasingly frowned upon by society. Switzerland, despite its commitment to human rights, was also criticized internationally. Several European countries had already introduced civilian service.

In 1992, Swiss voters finally accepted by 82.5% the introduction of civilian service for conscientious objectors. That year, 207 men began prison sentences. Between 1984 and 1991, the figure varied between 471 and 323, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office.

The replacement service was finally introduced on October 1, 1996. 66 were still imprisoned for refusing to serve, desertion, insubordination, or failing to report for military service obligations.

Facing Closed Doors

Upon leaving prison, Marcel found closed doors. Several jobs slipped through his fingers, including at the predecessor of Swisscom. ‘I topped the entry exam, but I was rejected because I refused to serve in the army. Companies had a clear blockage.’

‘I don’t regret it. But I wouldn’t do it like that again. It was six months lost, where you could do useful things for society.’ Marcel occasionally reflects on that period of his life and talks about it with pleasure.

* pseudonym