Caster Semenya remains determined to fight for Human Rights
8 September 2020
LAUSANNE (8 September 2020) – After many months of deliberation, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland has refused to set aside a 2019 ruling against Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The CAS ruling had upheld controversial regulations issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations IAAF, which now calls itself World Athletics.
The Swiss Supreme Court found that World Athletics’ requirement of subjecting certain female athletes to drug or surgical interventions as a precondition to compete in women’s 400m to 1500m events does not amount to a violation of Swiss public policy. The Supreme Court stressed the strict limitations of reviewing a violation of Swiss public policy, which has only been accepted once in over 30 years.
Importantly, the Swiss Supreme Court was bound by the controversial factual findings of the majority of the CAS Panel (without regard to the findings of the dissenting arbitrator). Based on those controversial facts, the Swiss Supreme Court denied a violation of Swiss public policy. The Swiss Court dismissed the appeal despite finding that the World Athletics regulations seriously violate Caster’s physical integrity because the required hormonal drug intervention is not medically indicated, has negative health effects and is not based on the athlete’s free consent.
This ruling supports World Athletics’ efforts to prevent Caster from defending her 800m gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021. Caster commented: “I am very disappointed by this ruling, but refuse to let World Athletics drug me or stop me from being who I am. Excluding female athletes or endangering our health solely because of our natural abilities puts World Athletics on the wrong side of history. I will continue to fight for the human rights of female athletes, both on the track and off the track, until we can all run free the way we were born. I know what is right and will do all I can to protect basic human rights, for young girls everywhere.”