A working group comprised of progressive theologians drafts the Berne Declaration. The manifesto calls on the Federal Council to commit to implementing the “requisite political changes” to make relations between Switzerland and poor countries more equitable. The Berne Declaration obtains over 10,000 signatures. The first signatories pledge to donate 3% of their revenue to one or several charities for three years. The movement gives rise to Switzerland’s first independent development NGO.

Following an action carried out by students of Berne, in 1975, the Berne Declaration arranges for instant coffee fully produced by a cooperative in Tanzania to be sold in Switzerland. The value-added part of the process remains in Tanzania, meaning that the coffee contributes to the country’s development. In Swahili, the name of the first fair-trade product – Ujamaa – means “the meaning of family in its broadest sense, where everyone works together and shares the fruit of their efforts”. In collaboration with charities, the Berne Declaration sets up the import company OS3 (Organisation Suisse-Tiers-Monde) and contributes to the development of fair trade in Switzerland.

The Berne Declaration attacks racism with children’s books, defining criteria for children’s literature that is respectful and publishes an annual brochure on the topic (now called “Fremde Welten”). The Berne Declaration designs educational material and takes the topic to schools, editors and training centres.

The Berne Declaration joins forces with the socialist party to launch an initiative specifically seeking to lift banking secrecy regarding tax matters. In April, the “Chiasso scandal” involving Credit Suisse’s branch in Tessin shows that the success of Switzerland’s financial sector is largely due to the tax evasion practiced by foreign taxpayers. Together with development organisations, the Berne Declaration launches the Action on Switzerland’s financial sector – Third World. Through research and investigation, the Berne Declaration supports the socialist party’s initiative specifically seeking to lift banking secrecy regarding tax matters. The initiative is opposed by 73% of voters in 1984 after being lambasted by slogans from the banking community accusing it of seeking to impregnate the economy with Marxist values. Our organisation continues its fight against tax evasion “Made in Switzerland” and its harmful effect on poor countries.

In coalition with other organisations, the Berne Declaration sets up the Action on the Swiss Financial Centre, whose primary mission is to support the banking initiative. The Berne Declaration has repeatedly replicated the practice of setting up organisations tasked with a specific project or topic, opening them up to others and finally leaving them to become independent. The association akte – Working Group on Tourism and Development, which addresses the impact of Swiss tourism on countries of the South, and the OS3 import cooperative (now known as the Claro world shops), are set up at the end of the 1970s and are further examples of spin-offs from the Berne Declaration.

Sex tourism and the trafficking of women are on the rise. In 1981, the Berne Declaration sues a bar owner and takes him to trial. The media echo is resounding. In 1985, the Berne Declaration proposes that an organisation dedicated to raising awareness about the causes of sex tourism and the trafficking of women, as well as possible courses of action, be set up. The (FIZ Advocacy and Support for Migrant Women and Victims of Trafficking) opens an information and meeting centre in Zurich. It actively supports women in Switzerland who are victims of trafficking at the political and social level.

The Berne Declaration exposes confidential studies proving that the Swiss company Ciba-Geigy (now known as Novartis) is aware that Galecron is carcinogenic. The drug is banned in Switzerland because of the risk it poses to public health, and yet still sold in numerous developing countries. A large campaign is launched to put an end to these scandalous practices. In 1987, the company succumbed to pressure and announced the recall of Galecron.

A scandal erupts when Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos is ousted, and it is revealed that Swiss financial intermediaries have accepted and managed plundered wealth. Several hundred million Swiss francs are found in Swiss bank accounts. The Berne Declaration campaigns for these funds to be seized. The Swiss authorities freeze the funds and a prolonged court case finally leads them to be returned to the victims of Marcos 20 years later. The scandal, followed by that of the Duvalier funds, gives rise to the development of Switzerland’s policy on illegal assets.

In the 1990s, it was widely believed that population growth was the cause of hunger and environmental pollution. Efforts to resolve the problems focused on birth control and family planning programmes in the Global South. However, there was rarely discussion about the fact that industrial countries, home to a quarter of the world’s population, use up three quarters of its resources. Through the Consumption causes Hunger campaign, the Berne Declaration shows that inequalities and the unequal distribution of resources – rather than birth rates – are the real causes of hunger in the world.

Whilst the entire world is looking at the World Economic Forum in Davos (WEF), which is hosting Presi-dent Bill Clinton, the Berne Declaration inaugurates a critical counter-summit to denounce the lack of transparency and democratic legitimacy of the WEF. Largely excluded from the official events, journalists enthusiastically cover Public Eye’s first sessions. Conferences lasting several days bring together renowned figures, human rights activists.

In coalition with the international Pesticide Action Network, the Berne Declaration starts a long fight against paraquat. The weed killer, sold by Syngenta, is so toxic that it is banned in Switzerland and the European Union. Every year, it poisons millions in developing countries; studies link it to Parkinson’s disease and mutagenic potential. Sixteen years later, paraquat was banned in over 50 countries and numerous labels, producers and distributors renounced it, yet Syngenta continued to turn a deaf ear. We are still fighting against paraquat and other highly toxic pesticides sold by the Basel-based company.

During the European Social Forum in Florence, a group of activists discuss tax havens over coffee and decide to set up the Tax Justice Network. Their aim? To attack the ‘offshore’ system, not only because they see taxation as an essential means of mitigating the harmful effects of the unbridled capitalism of these years of neoliberalism, but because tax evasion is a key issue for developing countries. The Tax Justice Network – which the Berne Declaration is a founding member of and which is now known as the Global Alliance for Tax Justice – helped put the fight against tax evasion on the international community and of numerous countries’ agendas.

To show that it is possible to produce clothes in fair conditions, the Berne Declaration produces a prototype T-Shirt. From the cotton fields of Burkina Faso to sewing workshops in India, a documentary follows the stages involved in making this piece of clothing through the image of Sasi Rekha, one of the many people who help to produce it. Our evaluation of the companies underlines the huge progress needed in terms of transparency and respect for workers’ rights.

The Berne Declaration launches a shock campaign to denounce Swiss producers’ inaction towards child labour on cacao plantations in West Africa. Despite the fact that the industry has long acknowledged the problem, most companies have not taken any credible measures to address it. Two of the main Swiss companies active in this sector, Nestlé and Barry Callebaut, do not even deign to answer our questions. This campaign marks the start of our awareness-raising work about the dark side of the sweet treat that the Swiss are so fond of.

The international coalition No Patents on Seeds, co-founded by the Berne Declaration, submits 100,000 signatures opposing patents on plants and animals to the European Patent Office. Tomatoes, broccoli, peppers – a fight against the manoeuvring of giants such as Syngenta to take control of seeds in a quest for profit, and to guarantee food security for all people. In 2016, the coalition achieved the revocation of an abusive Monsanto patent on melons.

How can you combat the impunity enjoyed by multinationals? The Berne Declaration helps to launch the Rights Without Borders campaign. Through a petition signed by 135,285 people, a network of NGOs calls on the authorities to introduce binding rules requiring companies registered in Switzerland to respect human rights and environmental standards all around the world. After a promising start, the debates in parliament are cut short in 2015 due to pressure from business lobbies. The coalition decides to launch an initiative on the topic – so David is fighting Goliath with the support of the public!

Investigations carried out by the Berne Declaration reveal that Swiss police uniforms and even its army’s camouflage uniforms are made in very controversial conditions – seamstresses in Macedonia are only earning CHF 122 per month! Using a very humorous video, the Berne Declaration calls on Switzerland to clearly embed social standards in the federal law on government procurement, which is under revision. It marks the beginning of a long advocacy campaign!

The Berne Declaration takes an interest in the outsourcing of clinical trials to developing and emerging countries, where violations of ethical standards are commonplace. In some cases, patients are unaware that they are taking an experimental treatment and often they no longer have access once the trial has finished. The checks carried out by Swissmedic do not guarantee that medicines sold on the Swiss market have been tested in ethical conditions. In a campaign, the Berne Declaration calls on Alain Berset, the minister of health, to implement concrete measures to address the scandal.

Together with over 80 organisations, the Berne Declaration launches an initiative for responsible multinationals. The text it produces seeks to instil a duty of diligence in terms of human rights and environmental standards by obliging companies to assess the risks linked to their activities, take measures to address them and to make these public. In the event of negligence, companies could be held accountable for damage caused by their branches abroad. Dick Marty, Cornelio Sommaruga, Micheline Calmy-Rey amongst others sit on the committee. Having gained 120,000 signatures, the initiative was submitted in Berne in October 2016. The vote will take place in 2019.

On 21 May 2016, the Berne Declaration’s members assemble to approve the new name: “Public Eye”, reflecting the organisation’s core mission. Through investigations, advocacy and campaigns, Public Eye fights injustices originating in Switzerland by demanding greater equality and respect for human rights around the world. The organisation also updates its visual image and the design of its magazine.

Public Eye reveals how Swiss traders are taking advantage of weak standards in Africa to produce and sell highly sulphuric fuels, banned in Europe, thus contributing to the explosion of pollution levels in African cities. The media response to our report and our symbolic action (a container containing polluted air from Ghana is brought to Switzerland) is overwhelming. A petition signed by nearly 20,000 people calls on Trafigura to end this illegal trade. Whilst Swiss companies turn a deaf ear, five West African countries decide to significantly reduce the sulphur content allowed in diesel. A victory that helps to protect the health of over 250 million people!

After two years of investigation, Public Eye reveals the dubious practices of the oil trader Gunvor in the DRC. Had the trader paid bribes to the president’s cronies to obtain juicy contracts at the cost of the Congolese people? Gunvor oppresses one of its former employees, but a secret video, revealed by Public Eye, greatly embarrasses the company. The day before the publication of Public Eye’s report, Gunvor announces to the news agency Reuters that a court case had been opened against it. New information casts aspersions on the Geneva-based trader’s defence.

Following the revelations of the Paradise Papers, Public Eye files a criminal complaint with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office regarding the activities undertaken by the Swiss natural resources giant, Glencore, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The topic: its highly risky partnership with businessman Dan Gertler and the signs of misappropriation surrounding the acquisition of copper mines in very advantageous conditions. At the end of January 2018, the media reveals that Gertler is being investigated by the US authorities for corruption in the DRC. The money allegedly passed through Swiss bank accounts – the US requests legal cooperation from Switzerland.