Continued Civilian Killings by French Police

 2023.7.12.

http://www.mfa.gov.kp/view/article/17150

Recently in France, excessive suppression and overreaction from the police has surfaced as a serious social issue with the nationwide expansion of mass protests denouncing civilian killings by the police.

The problem rose from a shocking case of June 27 in which the police shot dead a 17-year-old of Algerian origin while regulating traffic in Nanterre – a small town in the outskirts of Paris.

In regard to this incident, the region’s prosecutor defended that the police opened fire because the driver failed to comply with the orders to pull up on the hard shoulder but drove instead towards the police.

However, the French media revealed otherwise:

Le Monde reported that there is a video clip that accurately recorded the voice of the police saying “The bullet will stick to your head” while aiming at the youth in the driver’s seat. It continued to report that as the car started to drive off, the police who was taking aim pulled the trigger without hesitation, instantly killing the youth only a few metres off.

After the video clip in question spread like wildfire on the SNS, protests denouncing the police atrocities are being fiercely staged for days on end in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, and other parts of the country presenting a picture similar to that of a battlefield. From June 29, the French gendarmes were called in to quell the protests, using tear gas and clashing with the protestors.

Thus, the situation has entered a more acute stage.

Matters were so serious that President Macron who was attending the EU Summit in Brussels hurried back home even before the meeting’s program was over, and is also said to have postponed his pre-arranged visit to Germany.

Police violence in France has long been a serious social concern and a target of condemnation.

France Info and other media released several news reports on the discontent of the protesters at the excessive violence by the police: Despite obvious regulations prohibiting direct aiming of sub-lethal weapons at specific body parts including the face, uncontrolled use of police weapons resulted in tearing eyes off among protesters.

Meanwhile, in late March, a petition for disbanding the riot police BRAV-M was uploaded on the National Assembly website. During the period of merely 5 days, over 100,000 citizens signed the petition – a record high since the relevant platform was created on the website in 2020.

In particular, many lawyers and advocates of human rights have reproached the police for their “preventive” arrests and “serious violations of basic rights” that have become rampant since the outbreak of protests against the pension system reform.

Even at this moment, a police force of about 50,000 has been deployed to break up the ongoing protests. Thousands have been arrested, with the number on the steady increase.

European media warned that the disdainful regard of the French police for the youth as “vermin”, is not helpful in resolving the current situation, and that their inhumane acts will only invite more violence and casualties.