Carlo Sommaruga (born 8 July 1959) is a Swiss lawyer and politician of the

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz; SP; rm, Partida Socialdemocrata da la Svizra) or Swiss Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste suisse, it, Partito Socialista Svizzero; PS), is a polit ...

(SP). He has been a National Councilor for over a decade and since 2019 he is a member of the Council of States.

Early life and education

He was born into a family with a political background in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

. His father is

Cornelio Sommaruga Cornelio Sommaruga (born December 29, 1932 in Rome) is a Swiss humanitarian, lawyer and diplomat who is best known for being President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1987 to 1999. Today, he chairs the Geneva Internati ...

, a former diplomat and president of the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

(ICRC). He grew up in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, where he studied law at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

. He obtained his lawyers license in 1989.

Political career

Between 1991 and 2001 he was a member of the municipal council of

Thônex Thônex () is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It is situated in the east of the canton and shares a border with the French town of Ambilly. History In 1869 the municipality was created when Chêne-Thônex split into two indep ...

and a member of the Grand Council of Geneva from 2001 to 2003. He became a member of the National Council in 2003 and was re-elected until 2019. In November 2019 he was elected into the Council of States representing the SP for the

Canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (french: link=no, République et canton de Genève; frp, Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; german: Republik und Kanton Genf; it, Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; rm, Republica e ...

Political positions

In 2007 he suggested that members of the

Swiss diaspora The Swiss diaspora refers to Swiss people living abroad (german: Auslandsschweizer, french: Suisses de l’étranger, it, Svizzeri all’estero, rm, Svizzers a l’exteriur), also referred to as "fifth Switzerland" (german: Fünfte Schweiz, it, ...

were to be represented in Parliament, which in 2009 was voted down by the Council of States. Since 2017 Sommaruga was a main force behind a law which would have prohibited

Nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s in Switzerland, both signed by the National council and the Counci of States, but on request of the Federal Councilor

Ignazio Cassis Ignazio Daniele Giovanni Cassis (; born 13 April 1961) is a Swiss physician and politician who has served as President of the Swiss Confederation since 1 January 2022. A member of FDP. The Liberals, he has been a Member of the Swiss Federal Cou ...

, the Federal Council refused to sign it. As a member of the National Council, he was the co-president of the Parliamentarian Group for the relations to the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

people. He was also critical to the Israeli incursion into the Gaza strip in 2008–2009 and in 2017, he asked in the National Council if a prosecution would be launched against the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i politician

Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former for ...

, who visited Switzerland at the time. Besides he is a supporter of the

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations ...

(BDS) movement with other politicians of the SP.

Professional career

He is a lawyer for the tenants association of Switzerland in Geneva and in November 2016, he was elected their president. Since 2018, he is also the president of the board of directors of the Swiss branch of the European NGO for

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

Solidar SOLIDAR is a European network of NGOs working to advance social justice in Europe and worldwide. SOLIDAR voices the concerns of its member organisations to the EU and international institutions across the policy sectors of social affairs, inter ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sommaruga, Carlo Swiss politicians 20th-century Swiss lawyers Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Members of the Council of States (Switzerland) Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians 1959 births Living people