Switzerland
“Sanctions against Jacques Baud”
Open letter to Mr Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation, drafted by the “Geneva International Peace Research Institute” (GIPRI)
Mr Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation
Communications Service SG-DEFR
Federal Palace East
3003 Bern
info@gs-wbf.admin.ch
Geneva, 25 June 2026
Sanctions against Jacques Baud
Dear Mr President
My colleagues at the International Institute for Peace Research in Geneva (GIPRI) and I hereby expressly draw your attention to the case of retired Colonel Jacques Baud.
Colonel Jacques Baud is subject to direct (imposed by the EU) and indirect (imposed by UBS) sanctions which violate several principles and legal provisions to which Switzerland is committed: peace, justice, international law, human rights, the rule of law and neutrality.
The cause of peace is the main reason for the relationship our institute maintains with Jacques Baud. In his foreword to the book “Governing by fake news” [“Gouverner par les fake news], published in 2020, the Colonel writes: “Taken together, according to my records and analyses—compiled over 35 years in the field of international security across three continents in the service of security and peace within national and international frameworks—these efforts have helped to save just over 470,000 lives. […] This is what is known as the ‘deep state’ or the ‘permanent state’: a bureaucracy that exists for its own sake and seeks to satisfy its own interests at the expense of the common good.”
Colonel Baud’s peaceful objective stands in stark contrast to the bellicose attitudes that are traditionally disguised under the pretext of defence against a supposedly threatening enemy, as Anne Morelli explains in her book “Principes élémentaires de la propagande de guerre” [“Basic Principles of War Propaganda”]. Switzerland has, however, ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which came into force for the country on 18 September 1992.1
We must remind Swiss citizens of Articles 19 and 20 of this Covenant. Article 19 states that no one may be persecuted for their opinions and reaffirms the right to freedom of expression, unless the law expressly provides otherwise. Article 20 stipulates that “all war propaganda is prohibited by law”. Article 19 is based on Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The decision of the Council of the European Union of 15 December 2025 concerning Jacques Baud targets his analyses and opinions.2 “He acts as a mouthpiece for pro-Russian propaganda and spreads conspiracy theories, for example by accusing Ukraine of having staged its own invasion in order to join NATO.”
This example is particularly ill-chosen, as Jacques Baud was quoting a Ukrainian official close to President Zelenskyy when he made this statement. The zeal displayed by the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot towards Jacques Baud reflects the stance of the French President Emmanuel Macron,3 who attaches so little importance to diplomacy that he has disbanded the French diplomatic corps – renowned for its calibre – and renamed the Ministry of Defence the Ministry of Military Affairs.
This decision by the EU was taken in defiance of the rules governing a state governed by the rule of law, which requires the separation of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. In a state governed by the rule of law (which the EU is not), sanctions are the responsibility of an impartial judge within the framework of legal proceedings involving an adversarial hearing in which the defendant is represented by a lawyer. Even before the decision against Jacques Baud, two legal experts had issued an opinion on similar cases.4
As regards the crux of the conflict over Ukraine, the US, the EU and their allies invoke Article 2(4) of the UN Charter to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory. This is indisputable. Nevertheless, one should not overlook the first paragraph of Article 1, which calls for “effective collective measures to be taken to prevent and remove threats to peace”.
Yet the Western countries have never complied with the repeated calls from the Russian authorities for collective security – from Gorbachev through Medvedev to Putin. They have based their security policies on NATO’s expansion into the vicinity of Russia. The Russian proposals from December 2021 – that is, two months before the border was crossed – can be found on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.5
Without presenting or discussing the two documents mentioned in the Russian statement, Western heads of state and government and their media have wrongly labelled them an ultimatum. The Minsk Agreements had been endorsed by Security Council Resolution 2202 of 17 February 2015. Who has taken responsibility for their implementation? Who mentions the violent repression of the Russian-speaking population in the Donbas by Kyiv since 2014 and its victims? Neutrality and impartiality require that all facets of a conflict be considered.
Furthermore, Mr President, relations between the Swiss Confederation and the EU would benefit if they were enriched by Swiss culture. The book by Guy Mettan, “Le Continent perdu” [The Lost Continent], provides useful insights.
These, Mr President, are the reasons why the Geneva Institute for Peace Research, which has been in existence for more than forty years, has decided to address you. Our work is not merely theoretical. In 2006, at the suggestion of the Ambassador to Tehran, Philippe Welti, the Swiss Confederation commissioned us to undertake a mediation mission between the United States and Iran – a mission that proved successful.
Our motto is that of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969 and is based in Geneva: Si vis pacem, cole justiciam [If you want peace, cultivate justice].
Enclosed with this letter is GIPRI booklet No. 11/2021: “Which Paths to Peace?” It contains the proceedings of the 2021 colloquium in Geneva, at which the centenary of the founding of the League of Nations was commemorated in the presence of Colonel Jacques Baud.
We thank you for the initiatives you intend to undertake in support of Jacques Baud, a Swiss citizen whose life was shaped by neutrality, who dedicated himself to the cause of peace amongst nations and who has become a symbolic figure.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.
With the utmost respect
Dr Gabriel Galice, President of GIPRI, Professor at the “Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques”, Paris
Gilles-Emmanuel Jacquet, Vice-President of GIPRI, Professor at the “Geneva School of Diplomacy”
Chantal Peschoux, Treasurer of GIPRI
Guy Mettan, Member of the Grand Council of Geneva
Dr Alfred de Zayas, lawyer, Professor at the “Geneva School of Diplomacy”
Philippe Stroot, former spokesperson for the WHO
Contact: GIPRI, c/o Guy Mettan, Clos Mallet-du-Pan 6, 1208 Geneva. gabriel.galice@gipri.ch
(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)
1 https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1993/750_750_750/fr
2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32025D2572