Box 12.9 Multilingualism and the Swiss Armed Forces221 Switzerland is a state with four official languages: French, German, Italian, and Retro-Roman. In spite of the fact that the Swiss Armed Forces have never officially formulated a policy of multilingualism, they have developed three policies for addressing the multi-language character of the Swiss state. 1.The principle of language territoriality The equitable representation of the linguistic groups in the Armed Forces is guaranteed by the territorial structure of the Armed Forces, which goes back to the historical cantonal military organization. Given the fact that most units are recruited from citizens of the same canton, and since 22 out of 26 Swiss cantons are monolingual entities, most units of the Swiss Armed Forces use one language for internal communication purposes. 2. The principle of proportionality In addition to territoriality, the question of multilingualism is addressed by the proportional representation of the linguistic communities in the Swiss Armed Forces. The composition of Armed Forces personnel is supposed to reflect the actual proportion of the language communities in Switzerland. This policy of representation relies mostly on informal and customary rules, and legal prescriptions are rare. 3. The language competences of the officer corps Officers need to have excellent communication skills. In this respect, the Swiss Armed Forces take advantage of the relatively good language competence of its officers, which they acquired during pre-military and civil education. Only recently has language education been given more attention in officer training: not in one of the four official languages, but in English. 221 4. Best Practices and Recommendations • There should be effective means for members of the armed forces to raise allegations of racial discrimination (including indirect discrimination and harassment on racial grounds) within the armed forces; • Members of the armed forces should have access to civilian courts or tribunals in order to pursue allegations of racial discrimination (including indirect discrimination and harassment on racial grounds). Where it is a precondition that they use internal means first, the civilian authority should be able to proceed notwithstanding in the event of undue delay or an inadequate internal investigation; • All armed forces should have a transparent recruitment process that includes a hiring code based on principles that include fair and equitable representation of all ethnic groups; • Where an ethnic or linguistic minority is significantly under-represented in the armed forces in comparison with the population as a whole, active steps should be taken to encourage and facilitate applications from that group; • Ministries of defence should co-operate with independent anti-discrimination bodies in monitoring and implementing these policies; • Tolerance of ethnic and linguistic minorities should form an essential part of training for all members of armed forces, backed by appropriate disciplinary sanctions where individuals are responsible for discriminatory conduct or harassment; • Superior officers have a special responsibility, and a detailed understanding of these issues should be a prerequisite for promotion. Equally, it should be understood that any 221  Bernhard Altermatt, “Der Umgang der Schweizer Armee mit der Mehrsprachigkeit: Proportionalität und Territorialität: Ein historischer Uberblick mit Standortbestimmung”, Federal Military Library and Historical Service, Report No. 15, Bern, 2004, pp. 71-73. 111 Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel