The GSoA - Group for Switzerland without an Army - was founded 1982, with the main goal of "civilizing" Swiss society by aboliting its army. While this may seem utopian, more than one third of the Swiss population supported this idea in a federal referendum that was held in 1989. Today, there are regional GSoA groups in all major Swiss cities, with around 20'000 members and supporters.

Currently, the main focus of our organisation are:

• Opposition against arms trade: We have recently filed enough signatures for a national initiative against arms trade. Thanks to this initiative, the Swiss will vote in a referendum on an amendment to the constitution that would ban the export of any weapon from Switzerland. This national referendum will be held in a year or two.

• Opposition to arms procurements: The Swiss army is about to purchase new fighter jets (Gripen from Sweden, Eurofighters or Rafales from France). We are determined to prevent this from happening - also by enforcing a national referendum.

• Constant criticism of Switzerland militaristic traditions.

While we make heavy use of Switzerland's traditional direct-democratic instruments, we organise direct actions around military events and facilities of defense companies every now and then.