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Amnesty slams state violence at G7 summit

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Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Paris

Amnesty International condemned what they called an “unjustifiable crackdown on freedom of assembly and movement” at the recent G7 summit in Biarritz, France. 

Fearing an embarrassing appearance by the anti-government Yellow Vest movement, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered over 13,000 police to place the area on a complete lockdown. Even local residents complained of the restrictions, which involved widespread searches and seizures without warrants. 

Police proceeded to preemptively arrest activists and protest organizers, and banned all but two demonstrations, both held 30 kilometers from Biarritz. Amnesty condemned the unnecessary violence and restrictions used by police at those peaceful protests - even before the demonstrations began – and also the indiscriminate use of rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas.

Top NGOs have so far remained largely silent on the long-running repression in France, and French media has been accused of ignoring the Yellow Vests for months. With France’s summer vacation season concluding, many expect regular major protests, and regular major state repression.

For nine months the French government has responded to the Yellow Vest protests and other anti-government demonstrations with shocking violence. And yet many in France have been surprised that Western mainstream media has given far more attention to recent right-wing protesters in Hong Kong, instead of focusing on what’s occurring in their own backyard. 

The state violence and repression of human rights which was pushed far away from the G7 summit was no outlier - it has been occurring in France every weekend since November 2018, and there is no sign of stopping.


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