GENEVA — UN human rights experts have condemned France's response to the nationwide student protests, saying they are "appalled" by the level of violence suffered by pupils and students and that the scale of arrests — several thousand people, mainly minors — appears disproportionate.
Source: OHCHR
"Excessive use of force, violence and mass arrests are not appropriate responses to a social protest movement in a State governed by the rule of law," the four experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council said in a statement issued in Geneva on Wednesday. The experts include Gina Romero, the special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and Farida Shaheed, the special rapporteur on the right to education.
The movement began among high school students in mid-September and later drew in university students, demanding a functioning education system, decent material conditions, appropriate school and university timetables and equal access to quality education — demands the experts noted teachers have raised for a long time. The protests later widened into anger over the rising cost of living, with riots and looting on the sidelines of some marches.
On Saturday, French authorities deployed 70,000 security personnel as about 410,000 people protested nationwide, according to the Interior Ministry, and around 1,000 people were arrested. The experts said the arrests and detention of several thousand people, mainly minors, deter demonstrators from exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.
Source: AnewZ
"The serious and, in some cases, irreversible injuries sustained by underage demonstrators during law enforcement operations are unacceptable and unjustifiable," the experts said. They said investigations, including those by the General Inspectorate of the National Police, were essential, but so were clear instructions from superiors and a political stance that firmly condemns all police violence.
The experts also condemned violence on the other side, saying they regretted that police officers had been injured and that buildings had been damaged and shops vandalised, and that those acts must be investigated and their perpetrators brought to justice.
The statement said the priority given to a primarily security-focused response had sidelined the root causes of the mobilisation, even though authorities launched several initiatives in October to facilitate dialogue and respond to students' demands. The experts recalled that they had previously urged France to undertake a comprehensive review of its policing strategies and practices, and said they remain in contact with the French authorities on the issue.
Source: DevDiscourse