Europe’s rights body raps France’s handling of protests
A senior Council of Europe (CoE) official has taken France to task over its treatment of “Yellow Vest” demonstrators, warning the country against toughening up its anti-protest measures.
Dunja Mijatovic, human rights commissioner at the Council, which is set up to support respect for human rights, democracy, and rule of law across the continent, made the criticism in a memorandum issued on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
She asked French authorities to “show more respect for human rights,” specifically finding fault with their deployment of rubber ball launchers against the protests, which have been bubbling away since last November.
The memorandum also cautioned Paris against “introducing excessive restrictions to freedom of peaceful assembly” through a bill, which is being discussed at the Parliament.
The so-called “anti-casseurs (anti-troublemakers)” bill, which bans protesters from hiding their faces, gives police greater powers to extract potential trouble-makers from demonstrations, and grants local authorities the right to ban individual protesters.
Mijatovic advised the French government not to introduce any restriction on protests “especially as there is already provision in the internal security code for the judicial authorities to impose a ban on demonstrating.”
The rallies began in protest against fuel tax hikes, but spread to thousands-strong shows of anger against President Emanuel Macron’s economic policies.
According to the French Interior Ministry, more than 3,000 people, including protesters and police, have been injured since demonstrations started.
The police, however, insist that their crowd-control measures are strictly regulated and constitutional.
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