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.
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.
❌TéléphoneArabic📞A Villeneuve-la-Garenne, Gennevilliers, AulnaySous-Bois, Evry..
- suite à l’accident du jeune non casqué en motocross blessé à la jambe par une voiture policepic.twitter.com/cg4JUOxQ1G
— Adrenaline used 🇫🇷 (@adrenaline1001) April 20, 2020
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.
Nuit de révolte à Villeneuve-la-Garenne.
France fears the ‘explosion’ of the suburbs of Paris due to confinement.
In Villeneuve-la-Garenne, a young man in the neighborhood had a motorcycle accident while he was followed by police increments. pic.twitter.com/F9l2r9w5hJ
— David Torrents (@torrents_d) April 20, 2020
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:
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:
. @T_Bouhafs interpellé à #VilleneuveLaGarenne. pic.twitter.com/5MqbJWjBhh
— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) April 19, 2020
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.
To Rosa, yes, because that's what home and friends said. On 30 June she will be 29 years old as a result of an infection caused by a pelotazo released 7-8 meters by the Ertzainas. This was evident at the hearing or working session held on 26 January 2023 before the Police Victim... [+]
