Rights groups accuse French police of brutality in pension protests
Issued on: 24/03/2023
France has been rocked by mass protests and strikes since mid-January over the pensions overhaul
© CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP
Rights groups have raised concerns over the police's repeated use of "kettling", also called "trap and detain" in the United States, a crowd-control tactic consisting of cordoning off protesters in a small area.
Reports have emerged that police have detained foreign schoolchildren and other innocent bystanders, fired teargas at protesters in closed-off areas, and even hurt a man so badly he had to have a testicle amputated.
Teenagers, jogger detained
Macron's government on Thursday last week used a controversial executive power to adopt the pensions bill without a parliamentary vote, fuelling outrage and spontaneous protests in major cities.
In the days since, videos have appeared on social media appearing to show police knocking over or hitting demonstrators.
Human Rights Watch told AFP it was very concerned about "what appears to be abusive police practices".
It said they echoed similar "abusive crowd control and anti-riot tactics" during the anti-government "Yellow Vest" movement in 2018-2019 during Macron's previous term in office.
"The French authorities have apparently not drawn lessons from this or reviewed their police crowd control policies and practices," HRW's France director Benedicte Jeannerod said.
'View to commit violence'
Macron on Friday condemned the violence overnight and said security forces had worked "in an exemplary manner".
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the police had responded to "troublemakers, often from the far left", who had caused 441 police to be injured.
AFP saw suspected anarchists and other protesters setting fire to rubbish, smashing shop windows and launching stones and fireworks at security forces.
Darmanin said that 11 internal inquiries had been opened into alleged police brutality in the past week.
"It is possible that, individually, police, often because they are tired, commit acts inconsistent with what they were taught," he said.
Paris (AFP) – Criticism from human rights groups mounted on Friday over the alleged brutality of French police in handling protests opposed to President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform.
French authorities arrested more than 450 people on Thursday in the most violent day of demonstrations since the start of the year against the bill to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
In the days leading up to Thursday's protests, rights watchdogs had expressed worries over what they termed "arbitrary" detentions and the police's excessive use of force.
But security officials have defended their actions, saying they are responding to violent rioters and anarchist groups which frequently infiltrate French demonstrations to provoke clashes.
The French Human Rights League has accused the authorities of "undermining the right of citizens to protest by making disproportionate and dangerous use of public force".
"The authoritarian shift of the French state, the brutalisation of social relations through its police, violence of all kinds and impunity are a major scandal," the league's president Patrick Baudouin said on Friday.
French authorities arrested more than 450 people on Thursday in the most violent day of demonstrations since the start of the year against the bill to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
In the days leading up to Thursday's protests, rights watchdogs had expressed worries over what they termed "arbitrary" detentions and the police's excessive use of force.
But security officials have defended their actions, saying they are responding to violent rioters and anarchist groups which frequently infiltrate French demonstrations to provoke clashes.
The French Human Rights League has accused the authorities of "undermining the right of citizens to protest by making disproportionate and dangerous use of public force".
"The authoritarian shift of the French state, the brutalisation of social relations through its police, violence of all kinds and impunity are a major scandal," the league's president Patrick Baudouin said on Friday.
Hundreds have been detained by police © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP
Rights groups have raised concerns over the police's repeated use of "kettling", also called "trap and detain" in the United States, a crowd-control tactic consisting of cordoning off protesters in a small area.
Reports have emerged that police have detained foreign schoolchildren and other innocent bystanders, fired teargas at protesters in closed-off areas, and even hurt a man so badly he had to have a testicle amputated.
Teenagers, jogger detained
Macron's government on Thursday last week used a controversial executive power to adopt the pensions bill without a parliamentary vote, fuelling outrage and spontaneous protests in major cities.
In the days since, videos have appeared on social media appearing to show police knocking over or hitting demonstrators.
Human Rights Watch told AFP it was very concerned about "what appears to be abusive police practices".
It said they echoed similar "abusive crowd control and anti-riot tactics" during the anti-government "Yellow Vest" movement in 2018-2019 during Macron's previous term in office.
"The French authorities have apparently not drawn lessons from this or reviewed their police crowd control policies and practices," HRW's France director Benedicte Jeannerod said.
France has raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 © LOIC VENANCE / AFP
Critics have denounced police carrying out sweeping "preventive" detentions, saying even blameless passersby have been caught up in their dragnet.
In one instance on Thursday night last week, two 15-year-old Austrians on a school trip were among those kettled by police, Liberation newspaper reported.
The two teenagers, who had been trying to find their host families, spent the night in jail before their embassy intervened.
A man out jogging was detained the same night.
He told France Inter radio he was booked on allegations ticked at random on the charge sheet, and was not released until the following afternoon.
Security forces detained 292 people that night, but 283 of them were freed without charge.
Critics have denounced police carrying out sweeping "preventive" detentions, saying even blameless passersby have been caught up in their dragnet.
In one instance on Thursday night last week, two 15-year-old Austrians on a school trip were among those kettled by police, Liberation newspaper reported.
The two teenagers, who had been trying to find their host families, spent the night in jail before their embassy intervened.
A man out jogging was detained the same night.
He told France Inter radio he was booked on allegations ticked at random on the charge sheet, and was not released until the following afternoon.
Security forces detained 292 people that night, but 283 of them were freed without charge.
'View to commit violence'
Macron on Friday condemned the violence overnight and said security forces had worked "in an exemplary manner".
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the police had responded to "troublemakers, often from the far left", who had caused 441 police to be injured.
AFP saw suspected anarchists and other protesters setting fire to rubbish, smashing shop windows and launching stones and fireworks at security forces.
Darmanin said that 11 internal inquiries had been opened into alleged police brutality in the past week.
"It is possible that, individually, police, often because they are tired, commit acts inconsistent with what they were taught," he said.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez has said the BRAV-M motorbike unit is 'particularly well adapted to dispersing' protesters © Thomas SAMSON / AFP
In one such case, a woman had complained that a member of a motorbike unit beat her with a truncheon while she was caught against a wall in Paris on Monday, a source following the file told AFP.
In another, earlier this year, police on January 19 beat a man so hard with a truncheon that he had to have a testicle amputated, his lawyer told AFP.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said earlier this week said there were "no unjustified arrests", and that security forces detained people from "gatherings with a view to commit violence".
He defended the police's motorbike unit, known as BRAV-M, which critics have called to be disbanded, as being one "particularly well adapted to dispersing" groups.
Right groups have long accused French police of brutality and racism in the force, but say internal investigations seem to result in few sanctions.
burs-ah/adp/fb
© 2023 AFP
In one such case, a woman had complained that a member of a motorbike unit beat her with a truncheon while she was caught against a wall in Paris on Monday, a source following the file told AFP.
In another, earlier this year, police on January 19 beat a man so hard with a truncheon that he had to have a testicle amputated, his lawyer told AFP.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said earlier this week said there were "no unjustified arrests", and that security forces detained people from "gatherings with a view to commit violence".
He defended the police's motorbike unit, known as BRAV-M, which critics have called to be disbanded, as being one "particularly well adapted to dispersing" groups.
Right groups have long accused French police of brutality and racism in the force, but say internal investigations seem to result in few sanctions.
burs-ah/adp/fb
© 2023 AFP
At least 457 people arrested, 441 security forces injured in violent French pension protests
Issued on: 24/03/2023 -
A protester clashes with riot police during a demonstration on the ninth day of nationwide protests against the French government's pension reform, Paris, France, March 23, 2023.
Text by:NEWS WIRES
A total of 457 people were arrested and 441 security forces injured on Thursday during nationwide protests against French President Emmanuel Macron’s pensions reform, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
Speaking to the CNews channel on Friday morning, Darmanin also said that there had been 903 fires lit in the streets of Paris during by far the most violent day of protests since they began in January.
“There were a lot of demonstrations and some of them turned violent, notably in Paris,” Darmanin added, saying the toll was “difficult” while praising the police for protecting the more than million people who marched around France.
Police had warned that anarchist groups were expected to infiltrate the Paris march and young men wearing hoods and facemasks were seen smashing windows and setting fire to uncollected rubbish in the latter stages of the demonstration.
Darmanin, a rightwing hardliner in Macron’s centrist government, dismissed calls from protesters to withdraw the pensions reform which cleared parliament last week in controversial circumstances.
“I don’t think we should withdraw this law because of violence,” he said. “If so, that means there’s no state. We should accept a democratic, social debate, but not a violent debate.”
Elsewhere on Thursday, the entrance to Bordeaux city hall was set on fire during clashes in the southwestern wine-exporting hub.
“I have difficulty in understanding and accepting this sort of vandalism,” the mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, told RTL radio on Friday.
“Why would you make a target of our communal building, of all people of Bordeaux? I can only condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
British King Charles III is set to visit the southwestern city next Tuesday, and had been expected to visit the city hall and meet with Hurmic.
(AFP)
Issued on: 24/03/2023 -
© Nacho Doce, Reuters
Text by:NEWS WIRES
A total of 457 people were arrested and 441 security forces injured on Thursday during nationwide protests against French President Emmanuel Macron’s pensions reform, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
Speaking to the CNews channel on Friday morning, Darmanin also said that there had been 903 fires lit in the streets of Paris during by far the most violent day of protests since they began in January.
“There were a lot of demonstrations and some of them turned violent, notably in Paris,” Darmanin added, saying the toll was “difficult” while praising the police for protecting the more than million people who marched around France.
Police had warned that anarchist groups were expected to infiltrate the Paris march and young men wearing hoods and facemasks were seen smashing windows and setting fire to uncollected rubbish in the latter stages of the demonstration.
Darmanin, a rightwing hardliner in Macron’s centrist government, dismissed calls from protesters to withdraw the pensions reform which cleared parliament last week in controversial circumstances.
“I don’t think we should withdraw this law because of violence,” he said. “If so, that means there’s no state. We should accept a democratic, social debate, but not a violent debate.”
Elsewhere on Thursday, the entrance to Bordeaux city hall was set on fire during clashes in the southwestern wine-exporting hub.
“I have difficulty in understanding and accepting this sort of vandalism,” the mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, told RTL radio on Friday.
“Why would you make a target of our communal building, of all people of Bordeaux? I can only condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
British King Charles III is set to visit the southwestern city next Tuesday, and had been expected to visit the city hall and meet with Hurmic.
(AFP)
France's Macron says he will not yield to violence after pensions reform protests
Issued on: 24/03/2023
French President Emmanuel Macron strongly condemned violence that erupted in Thursday's demonstrations against raising the French retirement age and said he would not give in to it."We will yield nothing to violence, I condemn violence with the utmost strength," Macron told a news conference, after an EU Summit in Brussels, on Friday. FRANCE 24's European Affairs Editor Armen Georgian reports from Brussels.
Issued on: 24/03/2023
04:07 Video by: Armen GEORGIAN
French President Emmanuel Macron strongly condemned violence that erupted in Thursday's demonstrations against raising the French retirement age and said he would not give in to it."We will yield nothing to violence, I condemn violence with the utmost strength," Macron told a news conference, after an EU Summit in Brussels, on Friday. FRANCE 24's European Affairs Editor Armen Georgian reports from Brussels.
Violence flares as French protesters vent fury at Macron reform
24 Mar 2023, AFP
Protesters run in tear gas smoke next to a street fire on the sidelines of a demonstration as part of a national day of strikes and protests, a week after the French government pushed a pensions reform through parliament without a vote (AFP)
Almost 150 police were injured and scores of protesters arrested nationwide, the government said, as a day of protests descended into chaos in several cities including Paris, where protesters lit fires in the historic centre of the city
Protesters clashed with French security forces Thursday in the most serious violence yet of a three-month revolt against President Emmanuel Macron's hugely controversial pension reform.
The uproar over the imposition of the reform -- which the government chose to push through without a parliamentary vote -- has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second term in office.
It also threatens to cast a shadow over King Charles III's visit to France next week, his first foreign state visit as British monarch. Unions have announced fresh strikes and protests for Tuesday, the second full day of his trip.
In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, which King Charles is due to visit on Tuesday, the porch of the city hall was briefly set on fire.
Trash set alight
The numbers in Paris and other cities were higher than in previous protest days, given new momentum by Macron's refusal in a TV interview Wednesday to back down on the reform.
Police and protesters again clashed on the streets of the capital during a major demonstration, security forces firing tear gas and charging crowds with batons.
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Violent mass protests, disrupted train, air travel ail France...
Emmanuel Macron survives no-confidence vote as fresh protests...
French President Emmanuel Macron wants pension plan implement...
Some protesters lit fires in the street, setting ablaze pallets and piles of uncollected rubbish, prompting firefighters to intervene, AFP correspondents said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that across France, 149 members of the security forces had been injured and at least 172 people arrested, including 72 in Paris.
Around 140 fires were set alight in Paris, said Darmanin, blaming "thugs" for the violence, who had come to Paris "to have a go at the cops and public buildings".
Some 1.089 million protesters took part in demonstrations across France, the interior ministry said, putting the Paris turnout at 119,000, the highest for the capital since the movement started in January.
The nationwide figure still fell short of the 1.28 million people who marched on March 7, according to the government figures.
Unions claimed a record 3.5 million people had protested across France, and 800,000 in the capital.
- 'Until the end' -
In Paris, several hundred black-clad radical demonstrators were breaking windows of banks, shops and fast-food outlets, and destroying street furniture, AFP journalists witnessed.
In the northeastern city of Lille, the local police chief Thierry Courtecuisse was lightly injured by a stone.
In Paris, a video went viral of a police officer in helmet and body armour being knocked unconscious and plunging to the ground after being hit on the head by a stone.
The garbage that has accumulated in the streets due to strikes by refuse collectors proved an appealing target, protesters setting fire to the trash piled up in the city centre.
"It is a right to demonstrate and make your disagreements known," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Twitter, but added: "The violence and destruction that we have seen today are unacceptable."
Unions again appealed for peaceful protests. "We need to keep public opinion on side until the end," said Laurent Berger, leader of the moderate CFDT.
Protesters briefly occupied the tracks at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, and some blocked access to Charles de Gaulle airport.
Anger surged after a defiant Macron said on Wednesday he was prepared to accept unpopularity over the pensions reform which he said was "necessary".
Even before then, a survey on Sunday showed Macron's personal approval rating at just 28 percent, its lowest since the anti-government "Yellow Vest" protest movement in 2018-2019.
Almost 150 police were injured and scores of protesters arrested nationwide, the government said, as a day of protests descended into chaos in several cities including Paris, where protesters lit fires in the historic centre of the city
Protesters clashed with French security forces Thursday in the most serious violence yet of a three-month revolt against President Emmanuel Macron's hugely controversial pension reform.
The uproar over the imposition of the reform -- which the government chose to push through without a parliamentary vote -- has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second term in office.
It also threatens to cast a shadow over King Charles III's visit to France next week, his first foreign state visit as British monarch. Unions have announced fresh strikes and protests for Tuesday, the second full day of his trip.
In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, which King Charles is due to visit on Tuesday, the porch of the city hall was briefly set on fire.
Trash set alight
The numbers in Paris and other cities were higher than in previous protest days, given new momentum by Macron's refusal in a TV interview Wednesday to back down on the reform.
Police and protesters again clashed on the streets of the capital during a major demonstration, security forces firing tear gas and charging crowds with batons.
SIMILAR STORIES
Violent mass protests, disrupted train, air travel ail France...
Emmanuel Macron survives no-confidence vote as fresh protests...
French President Emmanuel Macron wants pension plan implement...
Some protesters lit fires in the street, setting ablaze pallets and piles of uncollected rubbish, prompting firefighters to intervene, AFP correspondents said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that across France, 149 members of the security forces had been injured and at least 172 people arrested, including 72 in Paris.
Around 140 fires were set alight in Paris, said Darmanin, blaming "thugs" for the violence, who had come to Paris "to have a go at the cops and public buildings".
Some 1.089 million protesters took part in demonstrations across France, the interior ministry said, putting the Paris turnout at 119,000, the highest for the capital since the movement started in January.
The nationwide figure still fell short of the 1.28 million people who marched on March 7, according to the government figures.
Unions claimed a record 3.5 million people had protested across France, and 800,000 in the capital.
- 'Until the end' -
In Paris, several hundred black-clad radical demonstrators were breaking windows of banks, shops and fast-food outlets, and destroying street furniture, AFP journalists witnessed.
In the northeastern city of Lille, the local police chief Thierry Courtecuisse was lightly injured by a stone.
In Paris, a video went viral of a police officer in helmet and body armour being knocked unconscious and plunging to the ground after being hit on the head by a stone.
The garbage that has accumulated in the streets due to strikes by refuse collectors proved an appealing target, protesters setting fire to the trash piled up in the city centre.
"It is a right to demonstrate and make your disagreements known," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Twitter, but added: "The violence and destruction that we have seen today are unacceptable."
Unions again appealed for peaceful protests. "We need to keep public opinion on side until the end," said Laurent Berger, leader of the moderate CFDT.
Protesters briefly occupied the tracks at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, and some blocked access to Charles de Gaulle airport.
Anger surged after a defiant Macron said on Wednesday he was prepared to accept unpopularity over the pensions reform which he said was "necessary".
Even before then, a survey on Sunday showed Macron's personal approval rating at just 28 percent, its lowest since the anti-government "Yellow Vest" protest movement in 2018-2019.
Mountains of rubbish have formed across the French capital, sometimes echoing the barricades of past revolutions. © Benoît Tessier, Reuters
Rubbish collectors and sewage workers gather at Place de la Bastille in Paris for the start of Thursday's rally. © Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24
Élisabeth Borne's use of Article 49.3 of the French constitution to force Macron's pension reform through parliament without a vote has incensed the president's opponents. © Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24
'Excessive force'
Acting on Macron's instructions, Borne last week invoked an article in the constitution to adopt the reform without a parliamentary vote. That sparked two no-confidence motions in parliament, which she survived -- but one by a narrow margin.
Thursday's protests were the latest in a string of nationwide stoppages that began in mid-January against the pension changes.
The ministry of energy transition on Thursday warned that kerosene supply to the capital and its airports was becoming "critical" as blockages at oil refineries continued.
Since the government imposed the reform last Thursday, nightly demonstrations have taken place across France, with young people coordinating their actions on encrypted messaging services.
There have been hundreds of arrests and accusations of heavy-handed tactics by police.
Amnesty International has expressed alarm "about the widespread use of excessive force and arbitrary arrests reported in several media outlets".
King Charles is due to arrive Sunday, with a trip scheduled on the new strike date of Tuesday to Bordeaux.
The fire at the entrance to the city hall in Bordeaux damaged its massive wooden door and was put out after 15 minutes, mayor Pierre Hurmic said.
French public sector trade unionists have warned they will not provide red carpets during the visit, but non-striking workers are expected to roll them out.
Acting on Macron's instructions, Borne last week invoked an article in the constitution to adopt the reform without a parliamentary vote. That sparked two no-confidence motions in parliament, which she survived -- but one by a narrow margin.
Thursday's protests were the latest in a string of nationwide stoppages that began in mid-January against the pension changes.
The ministry of energy transition on Thursday warned that kerosene supply to the capital and its airports was becoming "critical" as blockages at oil refineries continued.
Since the government imposed the reform last Thursday, nightly demonstrations have taken place across France, with young people coordinating their actions on encrypted messaging services.
There have been hundreds of arrests and accusations of heavy-handed tactics by police.
Amnesty International has expressed alarm "about the widespread use of excessive force and arbitrary arrests reported in several media outlets".
King Charles is due to arrive Sunday, with a trip scheduled on the new strike date of Tuesday to Bordeaux.
The fire at the entrance to the city hall in Bordeaux damaged its massive wooden door and was put out after 15 minutes, mayor Pierre Hurmic said.
French public sector trade unionists have warned they will not provide red carpets during the visit, but non-striking workers are expected to roll them out.
French garbage crisis: Trash pile up in Paris as collectors continue strike
Issued on: 24/03/2023 -
Issued on: 24/03/2023 -
01:18
Paris municipal garbage collectors have pledged to uphold a rolling strike until Monday, as thousands of tonnes of rubbish linger in the streets.
‘Democracy at stake’: French protesters vent fury at Macron over pension push
Benjamin DODMAN
FRANCE24
Thu, 23 March 2023
© Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24
French protesters downed their tools and marched once again in Paris and other cities on Thursday, galvanised by President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to ram his deeply unpopular pension reform through parliament without a vote, in what critics have branded a “denial of democracy”.
More than two months into a bitter battle that has roiled the nation, opponents of Macron’s plans to raise the retirement age showed no sign of relenting, with the number of protesters on the rise again after dipping in recent weeks.
The rallies marked the ninth day of nationwide strikes and protests, and the first since Macron ordered his prime minister to use special executive powers to bypass parliament, turning an already festering dispute into a political and institutional crisis.
In the French capital, several hundred thousand protesters turned out, setting off from the symbolic protest hub of Bastille. Many held posters with a montage of Macron dressed in full regalia in the manner of “Sun King” Louis XIV, accompanied by the slogan “Méprisant de la République” (contemptuous of the Republic).
“We’re fed up with a president who thinks he’s Louis XIV, who doesn’t listen, who thinks he’s the only one to know what’s good for this country,” said Michel Doneddu, a 72-year-old pensioner from the Paris suburbs.
Thu, 23 March 2023
© Benjamin Dodman, FRANCE 24
French protesters downed their tools and marched once again in Paris and other cities on Thursday, galvanised by President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to ram his deeply unpopular pension reform through parliament without a vote, in what critics have branded a “denial of democracy”.
More than two months into a bitter battle that has roiled the nation, opponents of Macron’s plans to raise the retirement age showed no sign of relenting, with the number of protesters on the rise again after dipping in recent weeks.
The rallies marked the ninth day of nationwide strikes and protests, and the first since Macron ordered his prime minister to use special executive powers to bypass parliament, turning an already festering dispute into a political and institutional crisis.
In the French capital, several hundred thousand protesters turned out, setting off from the symbolic protest hub of Bastille. Many held posters with a montage of Macron dressed in full regalia in the manner of “Sun King” Louis XIV, accompanied by the slogan “Méprisant de la République” (contemptuous of the Republic).
“We’re fed up with a president who thinks he’s Louis XIV, who doesn’t listen, who thinks he’s the only one to know what’s good for this country,” said Michel Doneddu, a 72-year-old pensioner from the Paris suburbs.
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