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Badge Of Dishonor: The Fight Against Police Impunity

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Is the police force rotten to the core with racism and impunity? This investigation focuses on Switzerland, where five black men have died following interactions with the police in less than a decade. Michael was the latest black man to have passed away during an arrest in Lausanne in May 2023. Adding fuel to the fire, racist messages exchanged between officers on a WhatsApp group were brought to light. We followed the uphill battle of victims' families, like that of Hervé Mandundu, shot dead in 2016, in their quest for justice. The investigation sheds light on the shortcomings in police-led investigations on their own officers, calling their impartiality into question. Police oversight is made even more difficult because of the independence of cantons, guaranteed by Swiss federalism. For anti-racism activists, the entire system is much too lenient with errant officers. The Mandundu case, brought before the European Court of Human Rights, could set a precedent. But for many, the damage is done, and their trust in the police gone.

Filming Locations
Lausanne, Canton of Vaud (fatal police interventions).
Village in Nigeria (burial of Chemisier, testimony of his widow Princess).
Valencia, Spain (testimony of Bridget, widow of Mike Ben Peter).
Strasbourg, France (mentioned, European Court of Human Rights).


Main Contributors
Simonetta, Princess's lawyer.
Olivier Beauceron, Commander of Lausanne Police.
Grégoire Juneau, Mayor of Lausanne.
Christian Favre, lawyer defending police officers under investigation.
Ludovic Ellis, criminal lawyer defending Enzo's family.
Elliot Paz, researcher for Border Forensic, investigative agency on human rights violations.
Marc Gerber, head of Geneva's General Inspection of Services.
Eric Carlton Rider, Vaud Chief Public Prosecutor.

Key Issues
Investigation into five Black men who died following interactions with Vaud police in ten years, a Swiss record.
Scandal of racist WhatsApp groups involving around fifty Lausanne police officers.
Systemic racism within Lausanne police forces.
Flaws in investigations conducted by police on themselves, questioning the impartiality of the judicial system.

Key Figures
Approximately 500 pages of WhatsApp messages containing racist, antisemitic and sexist content.
The special unit investigating these misconduct cases consists of around 60 police officers, out of more than 1,000 in the canton's police force.

Quotes
Grégoire Juneau, Mayor of Lausanne: "I would like here, on behalf of the municipality, to condemn what must be described as a form of systemic racism that needs to be addressed."
Ludovic Ellis, lawyer: "When it's the police themselves who are accused, we have the feeling that the investigation is much softer."

Year
2025
Production
RTS
Director
Xavier Nicol
Journalist
Fabiano Citroni
Resolution
HD
Collection

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