Published on March 24, 2023 at 12:30 p.m.
The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) is concerned about the increase in police violence. – ©Unsplash/Thomas de LUZE
The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) has just published a report in which it is concerned about the multiplication of episodes of police violence during demonstrations against the pension reform.
At each demonstration, videos of altercations between police and demonstrators flood social networks. This violence has been particularly exacerbated since the use of Article 49.3 and the forced passage of the pension reform.
The physical repression against demonstrators is such that the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) is concerned. To alert, the independent organization published, Thursday, March 23, a report entitled Freedom to demonstrate and freedom of the press in danger in which it “is concerned about certain actions of the police observed in particular since Thursday 16 March “.
Read also >> In Nantes, four students file a complaint against the police for touching
“Abusive and worrying actions of the police”
“In January 2020, the CNCDH had already alerted to illegitimate police violence, in the context of the Yellow Vests movement. I deeply regret that three years later, the CNCDH has to make the same finding of abusive and worrying actions by the police,” says Jean-Marie Burguburu, president of the CNCDH, in the report.
The Commission mentions abusive custody carried out “in a summary and arbitrary manner”. It also denounces the abusive use of force, the use of traps, as well as the arrests of journalists, as already reported by human rights associations, such as Amnesty International France.
A video by Loopsider reporter Amar Taoualit shows a charge by the police against demonstrators during the day of mobilization against the pension reform on Thursday March 23. The images made the rounds on social networks and provoked strong reactions.
“These excesses in the use of force by law enforcement undermine the population’s trust in public institutions. Increased police repression cannot be the appropriate response to the political and social problems currently facing the government,” the report states.
Read also >> Police violence: women victims
The United Nations alerted
The independent institution claims to have informed “the monitoring mechanisms of the United Nations and the Council of Europe” of these excesses. While alerts are multiplying, in particular thanks to videos shared on social networks, the CNCDH indicates that this police violence against demonstrators could harm France’s credibility internationally: “On the eve of the examination of France by the member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council, within the framework of the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, France’s credibility on the international scene is at stake. »
The Commission also invites the public authorities to take their responsibility in the face of these abuses. “The public authorities must firmly remind law enforcement officers of the legal framework of their interventions, in the service of guaranteeing fundamental freedoms. The judicial authority must also fully play its role of guardian of individual freedom”, insists Jean-Marie Burguburu.