Is vegan food a right? This is the question posed by the European Court of Human Rights. Switzerland is being sued after a Geneva Champ-Dollon prison and hospital are accused of failing to provide a vegan meal to an inmate and a patient, reports The Guardian. The decision could be historic.
A detainee and a patient treated in a psychiatric hospital have filed a complaint against Switzerland. They criticize the authorities for not having offered them meals without animal products. The court formally asked Switzerland, a member of the Council of Europe, to respond this week.
If heard, the two plaintiffs would pave the way for an unprecedented interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights on freedom of thought and conscience.
An active animal rights activist.
One of the complainants is an animal rights activist. In 2018, when he was then 28 years old, he was arrested after breaking into several Swiss slaughterhouses, butcher shops and restaurants and causing damage.
The activist was remanded in a Geneva prison and, within days of beginning his stay behind bars, complained to the criminal authorities about the lack of food options offered to him.
The man, who is vegan, says that in prison he is forced to strictly eat salad, rice and bread, and says he does not have the necessary balanced diet. He is examined by a doctor who diagnoses him with a lack of iron, hemorrhoids and constipation.
The “right to freedom of thought” in question
The prisoner submits a written request to be heard, but is rejected by the prison, which claims to have already made an effort to provide him with meals as close as possible to his requests. He is also offered B12 vitamins, but the activist refuses them.
After the failure of the appeal, the case is taken to the European Court of Human Rights. Added to this request is the patient of a psychiatric hospital, who also complains of a similar situation in a hospital establishment.
In this case, what is at stake is article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which establishes that “everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”
In particular, it guarantees that detainees have the right to request meals adapted to their religious beliefs, but the question of a possible diet adapted to their political and moral convictions has never been clearly resolved. Switzerland has 3 to 4 months to respond.
Source: BFM TV
