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Police abuses provoke riots in poor neighbourhoods in France
  • On 18 April, a young man from the Villeneuve-la-Garenne neighbourhood suffered a motorcycle accident caused by the police, which has unleashed fires and indignation in several popular neighbourhoods. In general, the discrimination and socio-economic inequalities that the residents of these neighborhoods experience in an accelerated manner have increased with the confinement. The various structures operating in the field of human rights have denounced police abuses.
Jenofa Berhokoirigoin @Jenofa_B 2020ko apirilaren 21

The Foral Police has opened the car door just as it passed by the motorcycle, hitting the young man hard and causing an accident. This is a new example of the police violence suffered by the inhabitants of the slums of France. But this time you can't keep it because a citizen has filmed the scene.

 

The young woman filed a complaint against the young woman on 20 April.

The images have provoked anger and revolts, which have spread to other neighbourhoods in France on the night of the following day, 18 April. At the level of the Police, a firewall is being used. The protests have taken place in various neighbourhoods in Paris, as well as in Lyon and Toulouse, among other places.

 

Police abuse also in confinement

Police abuses are multiplied by popular neighbourhoods and, in addition to the outrage of locals, they have also raised concerns about some structures working in the field of human rights. Thus, the French Bar Association, Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights League have denounced police action: "The health emergency cannot be a breach of the rule of law, the health emergency cannot justify discriminatory control and the use of disproportionate and unjustified violence."

Dozens of police abuse videos have spread across the city's social networks. Among others:

 

Violences policières aux Ulis

QUARANTAINE POUR TOUS SAUF POUR LES BAVURES Nouvelle vidéo de violences policières liées à des "contrôles" d'attestation de déplacement. Récit de Sihame Assbague qui a tenté d'en savoir plus sur cette bavure : Cette fois, ça se passe aux Ulis (91), le 24 mars 2020. Sur cette vidéo, Sofiane, 21 ans, violemment interpellé par des agents de la BAC. Livreur pour Amazon, il sortait du domicile de son père & se rendait au travail. Sur sa route, Sofiane aperçoit des policiers. « Panique pris » parce qu’il a oublié son attestation, il rebrousse chemin & se met à courir. Les agents se lancent à sa poursuite & finissent par le rattraper. The suite is south of it. « Ils l’ont défoncé » raconte un témoin. La mère de Sofiane ne décolère pas: « Il n’avait pas à fuir, d’accord, mais ça ne justifie pas toute cette violence. Ils l’ont tabassé, tortured. On nous parle de dialogue. C’est ça, dialogue? Et pourquoi l’emmener sous le porche? Pourquón? La colère est d’autant + grande que la maman elle-même a été contrôlée et verbalisée...alors qu’elle emmenait son fils à l’hôpital pour les blessures infées par des policiers. Il faut s’imaginer cette scène. « On nous a traités comme des moins que rien » raconte-t-elle. « On ne peut pas laisser passer ça, on peut pas accepter cette violence. » The mère de Sofiane a décidé de porter plainte. Pour lui & pour toutes les autres victimes de violences policières. Aux Ulis (mais pas que), l’état d’urgence sanitaire semble avoir exacerbé les tensions.

Posted by Beers non available on Thursday, March 26, 2020

 

The confinement has accentuated the discrimination and systemic violence that they experience over decades. ARGIA published the report “Police excesses in the slums of France”, in which this reality was explained.

A brutally assaulted journalist

During the follow-up to the incidents, the police have violently beaten journalist Taha Bouhafs, who has been arrested. The scene has been filmed and made known through social networks:

Of Algerian origin, Bouhafs is also an anti-racist militant. In addition, he works for Là-bas si j´y suis. It is not the first time that harassment occurs: In June 2019, the police beat him violently when he tried to hide an initiative of the undocumented and stopped him again in January 2020, reporting through social media that President Emmanuel Macron was in a theater – as soon as the information became known, dozens of people personaged themselves asking for his resignation and protesting.