dimanche 7 avril 2019

Qatar... Combat Impunity & ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moLy3MUpMCk&feature=youtu.be&t=56

National, Regional and International Mechanisms to Combat Impunity and Ensure Accountability under International Law
-INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE- QATAR-DOHA
14-15 APRIL 2019

International Conference on the Prevention of Impunity, which will be organized in cooperation with the United Nations, the European Parliament, and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions on 14 and 15 April 2019, in Doha- Qatar.

For further information and inquiries, please contact:

- Mr: Mubarak Al-Safran
Mobile: 66661046

- Mr: Ali Alsada
Mobile: 55886828

- MR: Smail Tellai
Mobile: 009766890819 

-----------------
Smail Tellai
Senior Diplomatic Reporter
Al-ARAB NEWSPAPER
Correspondent for Al Quds Al Arabi Newspaper from Doha 
66890819
09.00-10.00 Opening Session
H.E. Ali bin Samikh al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar, Vice-President and Secretary General of GANHRI
H.E. Pier Antonio Panzeri, the Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights
H.E. Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (Video Address)
H.E Carlos Negret Mosquera , President of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).
H.E Catherine Marchi-Uhel, Head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the investigation and prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Crimes in the Syrian Arab Republic.
10.00-10.15 Coffee Break
Debates

Panel One 10.15 – 13.00


Accountability for   
human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law
I. Duty to investigate and prosecute (Basic Principles and

Guidelines, Principles 1 to 7) II. Victims’ right to remedies (Basic Principles and
Guidelines, Principles 8 to 24)
Chairperson: Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Chief, Middle East and North
Africa Section (MENA), OHCHR.
Rapporteur: Anna Katulu (OHCHR)
Brenda J. Hollis, Prosecutor of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chairperson of the International Commission of Inquiry on the Syria Arab Republic.
Mona Rishmawi, Chief of Rule of Law, Equality and Non- discrimination Branch, OHCHR, UN, Geneva.
Saman Zia-Zarifi, Secretary General, International Commission of Jurists, Geneva.
Carmen Cheung, Center for Justice and Accountability.
13.00-15.00 Lunch Break

Panel Two 15.00-18.00

Protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity

I. Right to know. II. Right to justice. III. Right to reparation/guarantees of non-recurrence.
Chairperson: Mr. ORE Sylvain, President of the African Court on
Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Rapporteur: Yasmine Abou Mansour (OHCHR)
Marzuki Darusman, Chairperson of the independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.
Simon Adams, Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.
Ahmed Chaouqui Benyoub, The Interministerial Delegate for Human Rights, Morocco.
19.30
Dinner with Participants 


Fatsah Ouguergouz, Former President of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Burundi, Geneva.
Francois Membrez, International Expert, Geneva.
Three Working Groups : Good Practices, Lessons Learned and Proposals
9.00-12.00 Working Group One
I. Access to justice (Basic Principles and Guidelines,
Paragraphs 12 to 14)
Chairperson: Nicolo Angelo Figa-Talamanca, Secretary General,
No Peace Without Justice
Rapporteur: Michael Wiener (OHCHR).
Catherine Marchi-Uhel, Head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the investigation and prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Crimes in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Kimberly Prost, Judge on the International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands
Djaouida Siaci, Vice President of the Rohingya Support Group (RSG), New York.
Working Group Two
II. Reparation for harm suffered (Basic Principles and
Guidelines, Paragraphs 15 to 23)
Chairperson: Karen Smith, Special Adviser to the Secretary General on
the Responsibility to Protect.
Rapporteur: Anna Katulu (OHCHR)
Ben Keith, Barrister, Head of international team, UK.
Haydee J. Dijkstal, International Criminal and Human Rights Lawyer, UK.

Working Group Three12:00-12:30
Break

III. Access to relevant information concerning violations and reparation mechanisms (Basic Principles and Guidelines, Paragraphs 24)
Chairperson: Fausto Pocar, Chairman International Institute of
Humanitarian Law, Sanremo
Rapporteur: Yasmine Abou Mansour (OHCHR)
Michel Veuthey, Vice President of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and Ambassador of the Order of Malta to monitor and combat trafficking in persons.
Amal Nassar, Permanent Representative to ICC, international Federation for Human Rights ( FIDH ), Paris
12.30-12.45 Reporting Back from the three Working Groups.
Anis Anani (OHCHR)
12.45-13.15 Closing Remarks and Conclusions, Chaired by H.E. Ali bin Samikh al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar.

Venue: Ritz-Carlton


https://desiebenthal.blogspot.com/2019/04/stop-impunity-from-qatar.html

DO YOU REALLY WANT PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ?


DO YOU REALLY WANT TO COMBAT IMPUNITY ?


YEMEN: THE FORGOTTEN WAR


text prepared by François de Siebenthal

Summary:
All parties involved should cooperate for a serious commission looking and establishing the real facts about the death of the 7 nuns of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, invited in Yemen by the former Président, nuns killed in Yemen with 12 collaborators in two different locations !

 We need the truth to have a real peace in Middle East !
With over 20 million in need of aid, Yemen is the world's single largest humanitarian crisis. ICRC is working tirelessly to provide food, clean water and essential household items.
Hodeidah, Red Sea coast. CC BY-NC-ND / ICRC / Ralph Elhage
A statement from Robert Mardini, the regional director for the Near and Middle East for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on the situation in Hodeida, Yemen.
The most recent push for Hodeida is likely to exacerbate an already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen. The population has already been weakened to extreme levels.
Lifelines to the outside world must be maintained, including the Hodeida port and the Sana'a airport. Real people, real families, will suffer if no food is getting in, and we are concerned that ongoing military operations continue to hamper the arrival of essential goods.
The ICRC has prepositioned food, medical supplies, water purification systems and sanitation supplies in Hodeida. But these life-saving items cannot be given to those in need while fighting is ongoing.
We are concerned about Hodeida's essential infrastructure, including its water and electricity networks, which are vital to the civilian population's survival.
The ICRC, working in line with international humanitarian law, urges all parties to the conflict to respect civilian life by taking every possible measure to protect civilians, and to allow safe passage for those who want to escape the fighting. All persons captured in relation to the ongoing hostilities must be treated humanely, and the ICRC should be given access to detention facilities holding them.
Sana'a (ICRC): The International Committee of the Red Cross condemns Thursday's hits in the coastal city of Hodeida which resulted in the killing and wounding of scores of civilians.
"The scenes coming from Hodeida are horrific. The disregard of international humanitarian law in Yemen cannot be tolerated. While the exact circumstances around the ground explosions are still unknown, this lack of respect for civilian life and civilian property is reprehensible," said Johannes Bruwer, the head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen.
Fifty-five civilians were killed and 170 injured when a series of explosions rocked densely populated districts of the coastal city, including a fish market and the area around Al-Thawra Hospital, an ICRC-supported facility that is one of the biggest and busiest in Hodeida. Two ambulances were also destroyed.
"Under International humanitarian law (IHL), the civilian population, medical personnel, ambulances and medical facilities must be respected and protected in all circumstances, and the work of medical personnel must be facilitated," Bruwer said. The ICRC provided surgical material to assist severely wounded people as well as body bags to Al-Thawra Hospital after the neighborhood was targeted. This assistance follows regular support from the ICRC to hospitals in Hodeida in order to increase capacity to deal with wounded over the last 18 months.
Yemen: 71 ICRC staff pulled out of Yemen amid security incidents, threats
News release 07 JUNE 2018
Statement from ICRC's Director of Operations Dominik Stillhart
Geneva (ICRC) – Due to a series of incidents and threats, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has pulled 71 staff members out of Yemen, crippling its humanitarian activities such as surgical services, visits to detainees, clean water initiatives and food assistance activities.
The ICRC has been present in Yemen since 1962, but we are now seeing dangerous trends. Our current activities have been blocked, threatened and directly targeted in recent weeks, and we see a vigorous attempt to instrumentalize our organization as a pawn in the conflict. The ICRC holds all parties responsible for the security of its staff.
While the Yemen delegation has received numerous threats in the past, we cannot now accept additional risk less than two months after a gunman killed a staff member. The security of our staff, who are being intimidated by parties to the conflict, is a non-negotiable prerequisite for our presence and work in Yemen and an absolute priority.
The ICRC is calling on all parties to the conflict to provide it with concrete, solid and actionable guarantees so that it can continue working in Yemen. The ICRC hopes to continue preventing and alleviating the suffering of people caught in the conflict, but we must have the full agreement of all parties to the conflict based on solid guarantees.
ICRC's work in Yemen for more than five decades has assisted victims of armed conflict and violence including displaced people, families of the missing, detainees, mine victims, and those in need of health care in Sana'a, Aden, Taiz, Saada and Hodeida. The ICRC's activities are based on the principles of neutrality and impartiality, focusing on victims' needs and applying the same approach to all victims.Sanaa (CICR) – 
Sa’ada, Yemen (October 2017): The neighbourhood of Rahban, a World Heritage site, was severely damaged by airstrikes.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) awarded the Humanitarian Visa d'Or yesterday to French photojournalist Véronique De Viguerie for her report on the impact of the conflict in Yemen on its people. This year's theme was urban war and the consequences for people forced to hide or flee, fearing for their safety and enduring shortages of food, water, health care and shelter.
Entitled "Yemen: The war they're hiding from us", Véronique de Viguerie's photo-reportage focuses in particular on Yemeni women, paying tribute to their struggle for survival in urban areas. These women have stepped up to fill many of the places left by men, becoming the heads of their household and caretakers for the community.
"It's gratifying to have my work recognized by a jury of respected professionals. But more than that, I hope this award will draw attention to the hidden conflict in Yemen and the terrible humanitarian situation there," said Véronique de Viguerie. "It was quite an ordeal reaching the north of the country, but once my reporting partner, Manon Querouil, and I got there, we forgot all the obstacles in the face of people's suffering. I just wanted to tell the story of their daily struggle to survive.".
Yemen, according to the World Church, Stephanie Dupasquier, they are more than 10,000 dead, 2 million displaced, 22 million people dependent on humanitarian aid! Yemen is shaken by a civil war that broke out in 2004 when the large Shia minority stood up against the central government. Saudi Arabia and its allies in the United Arab Emirates are part of this absurd conflict. Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman, recently received by President Emmanuel Macron, tried to round out the angles by paying $950 million for the victims. This did not prevent the NGO CARE from denouncing "one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world". What can Christians do in this country where, despite the past that testifies to it, there is no longer any indigenous church left? Their small numbers do not protect them, however, from jihadists who take advantage of the chaos to spread. In March 2016 four sisters of Mother Teresa had been murdered in Aden and an Indian priest kidnapped. What is the outcome, what is the future in this region, which is prey to ethnic and religious violence and where the Good News cannot be heard?
They killed 7 sisters of Saint Mother Teresa and their 12 collaborators...
They kill children, women, the weakest ones
It's a barbarism without limits!

Solutions !

Nicholas of Flüe (German: Niklaus von Flüe; 1417 – 21 March 1487)[1] was a Swiss hermit and ascetic who is the patron saint of Switzerland and of the world peace. He is sometimes invoked as Brother Klaus. A farmer, military leader, member of the assembly, councillor, judge and mystic, he was respected as a man of complete moral integrity. Brother Klaus's counsel to the Diet of Stans (1481) helped to prevent war between the Swiss cantons.
Earlier life
He was born in 1417, in the canton of Unterwalden, the oldest son of wealthy peasants. At the age of 21 he entered the army and took part in the battle of Ragaz in 1446,[1] and distinguished himself as a soldier in action against the canton of Zurich, which had rebelled against the confederation. He later took up arms again in the so-called Thurgau war against Archduke Sigismund of Austria in 1460. It was due to his influence that the Dominican convent St. Katharinental, whither many Austrians had fled after the capture of Diessenhofen, was not destroyed by the Swiss confederates.[1] At around the age of 30, he married Dorothea Wyss, a farmer's daughter. They farmed in the municipality of Flüeli in the alpine foothills, above Sachseln on the Lake Sarnen. He also continued in the military to the age of 37, rising to the position of captain, reportedly fighting with a sword in one hand and a rosary in the other. After serving in the military, he became a councillor and judge for his canton in 1459 and served as a judge for nine years. He declined the opportunity to serve as Landamman (governor) of his canton.
Political mystic
After receiving a mystical vision of a lily eaten by a horse,[2] which he recognized as indicating that the cares of his worldly life (the draft horse pulling a plough) were swallowing up his spiritual life (the lily, a symbol of purity), he decided to devote himself entirely to the contemplative life. In 1467, he left his wife and his ten children with her consent and set himself up as a hermit[1] in the Ranft chine in Switzerland, establishing a chantry for a priest from his own funds so that he could assist at mass daily. According to legend, he survived for nineteen years with no food except for the eucharist. Symbolic visions continued to be a feature of his contemplation, and he became a spiritual guide whose advice was widely sought and followed.[3] His reputation for wisdom and piety was such that figures from across Europe came to seek advice from him, and he was known to all as "Brother Klaus." In 1470, Pope Paul II granted the first indulgence to the sanctuary at Ranft and it became a place of pilgrimage, since it lay on the Jakobsweg (English: Way of St. James),[4] the road pilgrims travelled on to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. His counsel prevented a civil war between the cantons meeting at the Diet of Stans in 1481, when their antagonism grew.[3] Despite being illiterate and having limited experience with the world, he is honored among both Protestants and Catholics with the permanent national unity of Switzerland. Letters of thanks to him from Berne and Soleure still survive. When he died, on 21 March 1487, he was surrounded by his wife and children.
Visionary images
Of the many spiritual insights Nicholas received in his visions, one in particular is reproduced often in a reduced logographic format, as a mystical wheel.[7] Nicholas described his vision of the Holy Face at the center of a circle with the tips of three swords touching the two eyes and mouth, while three others radiate outwards in a sixfold symmetry reminiscent of the Seal of Solomon. A cloth painted with the image, known as the meditation prayer cloth[8] associates the symbol with six episodes from the life of Christ: the mouth of God at the Annunciation, the eyes spying Creation both in its prelapsarian innocence and redemption from the Fall at Calvary, while in the inward direction the betrayal by his disciple Judas in the Garden of Gethsamene points to the crown of the Pantocrator sitting in the judgment seat, the glad tidings of the Nativity scene's "Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to his people on Earth" echoes in the ear on the right of the head, while the memorial of the Lord's Supper "This is my body, which will be given for you" at the prayers of consecration in the Divine Liturgy of the Mass echoes to the ear on the left of the head.

Prayer citation
The new Catechism of the Catholic Church cites a brief personal prayer of St. Nicholas of Flue in paragraph #226[5] of Chapter 1 of Part 1, Section 2 "The Profession of the Christian Faith" under subheading IV "The implications of faith in one God", an aspect of which is making good use of created things.

My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you. 
Veneration
He was beatified in 1669. After his beatification, the municipality of Sachseln built a church in his honour, where his body was interred. He was canonized in 1947 by Pope Pius XII. His feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is 21 March, except in Switzerland and Germany, where it is 25 September.

As a layman with family responsibilities who took his civic duties as an ancestral landowner seriously, Brother Klaus is a model of heroic manhood for many concerned with the flourishing of local communities and sustainable use of open land. He is the patron saint of the German-language association KLB (Katholischen Landvolkbewegung), the Catholic Rural Communities Movement.[6]


A plate from the Amtliche Luzerner Chronik of 1513 of Diebold Schilling the Younger, illustrating the events of the Tagsatzung at Stans in 1481. Top: A priest named Heini am Grund visits Niklaus von Flüe to ask him for his advice to save the failing Tagsatzung at Stans, where the delegates of the rural and urban cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy could not agree and threatened civil war. Bottom: Am Grund returned to the Tagsatzung and related Niklaus' advice, whereupon the delegates compromised. Am Grund is shown holding back a bailiff who wants to go and spread the good news already: Niklaus' advice remains secret to this day.
These seven medallions below contain additional symbols of acts of Christian kindness:



two crutches suggest Visiting the sick as a work of mercy
hiker's walking stick with travel pouch suggests Hospitality to strangers
a loaf of bread, fish and a pitcher of water and wine represent Feed the hungry, quench the thirsty
chains indicate Care for the incarcerated
Christ's garments evoke Clothe the naked
a coffin reminds us to Bury the dead

As conclusion, I repeat

All parties involved should cooperate for a serious commission looking and establishing the real facts about the death of the 7 nuns of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, invited in Yemen by the former Président, nuns killed in two places in Yemen with 12 collaborators !

 We need the truth to have a real peace !


M. François de Siebenthal, (born 1955 in Lausanne, Switzerland), is working, among others, for the newspaper "www.Versdemain.org " and for an institution called Louis Even "based in Canada





mercredi 3 avril 2019

GOUVERNANCE MONDIALE, UNE UTOPIE ?

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Le Club suisse de la Presse – Geneva Press Club,
en collaboration avec l’Institut des cultures arabes et méditerranéennes (ICAM),
a le plaisir d’inviter les journalistes suisses et étrangers, ses membres et le public
à un débat public Genève internationale intitulé :
LA GOUVERNANCE MONDIALE N'EST-ELLE QU'UNE UTOPIE ?
Mercredi 10 avril de 12h15 à 14h00 
« La Pastorale » Route de Ferney 106, 1202 Genève
(Bus 5 – Direction : Aéroport – Arrêt : Intercontinental)
avec

M. Georges Corm
Economiste, historien et écrivain libanais

Mme Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Professeur de droit international à l’Université de Genève

M.Valentin Zellweger
Ambassadeur, Représentant permanent de la Suisse auprès de l’Office des Nations Unies et des autres organisations internationales à Genève

Modération :
Mme Luisa Ballin
Journaliste, membre du Club suisse de la presse

══════════
══════════ 

En partenariat avec :
Les débats publics au Club suisse de la presse bénéficient du soutien de la République et canton de Genève. Ils donnent un éclairage multiple sur des événements d’actualité en faisant appel aux actrices et aux acteurs clés de la Genève locale et internationale et d’ailleurs, ainsi qu’à des haut-e-s représentant-e-s suisses.

Un apéritif sera servi après le débat.

 ※

Au plaisir de vous revoir à cette occasion.
plus d'infos : WWW.PRESSCLUB.CH
CLUB SUISSE DE LA PRESSE
Route de Ferney 106
La Pastorale
1202 Genève

T: +41(0) 22 546 14 44
F: +41(0) 22 546 14 45
E-mail
info@pressclub.ch

samedi 16 mars 2019

Children's rights & press freedom in Yemen

The Geneva Press Club - Club suisse de la Presse,
In collaboration with the Arab European Forum for Dialogue and Human Rights, the World Federation of Yemeni Communities and Yemeni Human Rights Organizations,
has the pleasure to invite the international press, the Swiss press
and its members to a conference entitled:


 

Violations of children's rights 
and press freedom in Yemen



With

Dr.Hayaf Khaled
President of the World Federation of Yemeni Communities
and Allied Human Rights Organizations for Peace in Yemen.

Dr. Mawaheb Al H-Hamzi
Human rights activist, member of the World Federation team
and Allied organizations for peace in Yemen

Dr. Khaled Abdulkarem
President of the International Center for Information and Development
and a member of the World Union and Allied Organizations for Peace in Yemen

Ms. Afkar Altmbashi
Lawyer, human rights activist and member of the World Union
and Allied Organizations  for Peace in Yemen

Moderator:
Ms. Carla Khijo
Researcher and analyst on Middle East Peace Issues

 

Monday, March 18th 2019 at 2:00pm

« La Pastorale » Route de Ferney 106, Genève
(Bus 5 - Direction : Aéroport - Arrêt : Intercontinental)

 
The conference will be followed by refreshments
I look forward to seeing you on this occasion
Geneva Press Club
Our mailing address is:
Club Suisse de la presse / Geneva Press Club
La Pastorale
106 Route de Ferney
Geneva 1202
Switzerland

jeudi 14 mars 2019

Invitation: Freedom of the Media ?

The Geneva Press Club - Club suisse de la Presse,
in collaboration with the 
Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to
the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
,
has the pleasure to invite the international press, the Swiss press
and its members to a conference and a roundtable entitled:


"Freedom of the Media: 
Modern Challenges and Threats"


With

 
 
Mrs Maria Zakharova
Official Representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry

Mrs Vera Kolesina
Press Secretary of the Spunik news agency section in Paris.

Mrs Myret Zaki
Chief Editor, Bilan Magazine

 Mr. Jean Musy
President of Foreign Press Association in Swizterland, Chief Editor Radio Zone

 

Moderation
Mr. Guy Mettan
Director of the Geneva Press Club

 

Wednesday, March 20th 2019 at 9:30am

« La Pastorale » Route de Ferney 106, Genève
(Bus 5 - Direction : Aéroport - Arrêt : Intercontinental)

 
The panellists will present analysis and exchange their views on the burning issues concerning journalist's rights and world press freedom. Key topics to be discussed: freedom of speech and journalists rights in the light of advancing states regulation of the media sphere and the challenge of fake news.

The roundtable will be followed by an exchange about Crimea between Mrs Maria Volkonskaya, Editor-in-chief of the Crimea Magazine, and Mr Peter Kenny, Vice-President of Foreign Press Association in Switzerland, Correspondent Independent Newspaper Group, South Africa.

The reports will be followed by a round table discussion followed by the interaction with the audience. Open debates and questions are welcome.
 
I look forward to seeing you on this occasion
The event will be followed by refreshments.
Geneva Press Club
Our mailing address is:
Club Suisse de la presse / Geneva Press Club
La Pastorale
106 Route de Ferney
Geneva 1202
Switzerland

lundi 4 mars 2019

Disarmament in Geneva – 5 March

JOIN US TOMORROW – UN Library Geneva – Library Talks – Milestones in the History of Disarmament in Geneva –Tuesday 5 March 2019, 12.30 p.m. – 2 p.m.


Disarmament is a matter of universal concern with a prominent place on the international agenda since the League of Nations, for which it was a central pillar.
Ever since, the diplomatic task of negotiating disarmament has been so daunting that public opinion tends to forget the impressive record of Geneva-based negotiations that lead to historic agreements. Among the highlights in the history of disarmament, the Conference on Disarmament turns 40 this year.
We have invited its President and a panel of experts to discuss how the approach to disarmament has evolved over time and whether its ultimate goal is realistic and possible. 
A Panel discussion with
Aidan Liddle (@AidanLiddle)
Ambassador & Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland to the Conference on Disarmament, President of CD

Marc Finaud (@FinaudMarc)
Senior Advisor, “Arms Proliferation’ Cluster Leader, Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) 

Randy  Rydell
Disarmament Expert, former Senior Political Affairs Officer, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs

Moderator
Kerstin Vignard (@KVignard)
Deputy Director & Chief of Operations, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).

Q & A Session
Refreshments will be served
Palais des Nations (MAP HERE)
Geneva, Switzerland
Library Events Room, Palais des Nations
Commence 5 mars 2019 12:30
Finit 5 mars 2019 14:00
Europe/Zurich