A/HRC/45/9/Add.1 Embrach in the Canton of Zurich, where there appeared to be stringent security arrangements in place, but the authorities were not able to facilitate such a visit. 78. The State Secretariat for Migration contracts private companies for security services inside the federal asylum centres where private security personnel provide a number of services, such as maintaining peace and order, conducting entry and exit checks or intervening during emergencies before the arrival of the police or rescue services. Some centres reportedly had a tighter security regime in place than others. Private security personnel working in federal asylum centres are subject to some vetting and training procedures, and receive training on a number of issues, including cross-cultural competencies. However, the timeliness of delivery and content of the training was reportedly not always adequate. Moreover, little clarity was provided regarding the inclusion of human rights aspects, such as the principle of non-discrimination and gender issues, into training received by private security personnel working in federal asylum centres. 79. The Working Group was pleased to find that decision-making processes affecting residents of the federal asylum centres, such as the security regimes implemented or sanctions taken against residents, were not delegated to private security personnel but remained in the hands of public authorities. Equally, there were limitations on the use of force, and private security personnel carried minimal equipment, such as pepper gel, for use in case of aggressive and harmful behaviour. The Working Group was told that such situations arose only sporadically and coercive measures were used minimally and had to be formally recorded and reported. 80. The presence of at least one female security guard at all times in the asylum centre was a positive element to ensure that security rules were implemented taking into consideration the specific needs of women and children. However, in centres accommodating significant numbers of women and families, the presence of a single female security guard may be insufficient. 81. In June 2019, the State Secretariat for Migration published a tender for private security services to be provided in federal asylum centres in 2020 and 2021, with possible renewal up to 2027.44 The tender included the prerogative of federal authorities to conduct background checks on individual private security staff to be deployed to the centres,45 and other requirements established in the 2015 Ordinance.46 Moreover, bidders were expected to carry out regular background checks on their employees every two years, including checking of criminal records. Concerning training, and in addition to the 2015 Ordinance, the tender required companies to submit their (continuous) training programmes together with their offer and to ensure that staff received cross-cultural training every two years. The Working Group was pleased to see the tender openly published but noted the lack of human rights references therein. The Working Group encourages the State Secretariat for Migration to further detail the tender requirements in the contract itself, including by elaborating on specific human rights principles, such as non-discrimination, and by putting in place thorough compliance monitoring by the federal authorities. V. Conclusions and recommendations 82. With its historic tradition of mercenarism, Switzerland has found ways to curtail the numbers of mercenaries to a minimum through the institutionalization of neutrality as a founding principle of its foreign policy. Although Switzerland has not ratified the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, its current legal framework appears to be sufficient to deal 44 45 46 16 Call for offers of 4 June 2019, notice number 1076737, available at www.simap.ch. See www.admin.ch/opc/fr/classified-compilation/20092321/index.html. The background checks are regulated by the Federal Act on Measures to Safeguard Internal Security (sect. 4) and the Ordinance on Personal Security Checks, which deal with access to sensitive and classified information. Basic background checks largely rely on the criminal record and any ongoing legal proceedings.