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French police have revived controversial tactics and weapons used against demonstrators during the Gilets Jaunes movement as they seek to tame a wave of anti-government protests.
Tens of thousands of officers have been deployed last month amid a wave of public anger triggered by President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the retirement age and in response to an unrelated protest held by environmental activists in western France.
Lawyers and human rights groups have criticised the methods used by law enforcement, such as preventive arrests to deter protesters and collect intelligence on activists and forceful crowd control methods. An official from the UN urged French police to avoid excessive force, and the EU’s human rights watchdog questioned the proportionality of the crackdown.
In March alone, more than 2,100 arrests were made with only a fraction leading to charges, two people from the environmental protest at the Sainte-Soline reservoir remain in coma, and 286 protesters have been injured, including one who lost an eye and another a thumb. But some 1,050 officers have also been injured, a reflection of the violence of some protesters who engaged in guerrilla warfare with police.
“The state has developed a strategy that crosses the boundary of what is legal to deprive people of their liberties and control mass movements,” said lawyer Arié Alimi, who represents about 50 people arrested at or near protests, including tourists and business owners caught up accidentally.
“These tools were first used widely during the Gilets Jaunes and are deeply concerning.”
The government has defended the police’s actions as necessary and lawful given the unpredictable conditions at recent protests where a radical fringe of demonstrators have attacked officers with stones and explosives.
“There is no police violence,” said interior minister Gérald Darmanin, adding that police had a dual mission of protecting citizens’ constitutional right to protest and maintaining public order. “The state has the legitimate right to use force to protect people and property.” He vowed to punish any officers who use force “in a disproportionate manner and do not respect ethics or orders”.
On the defensive on his pensions reform, Macron has positioned himself as defender of law and order against what he calls “ultra-left” rebels he likened to rioters storming the US Capitol in 2021.
Asked whether police were too heavy handed at Sainte-Soline, he expressed support for their bravery: “You have thousands of people who came simply to wage war, it is unacceptable . . . nothing justifies such violence.”
But critics said deploying 3,200 officers to face some 6,000 protesters at Saint-Soline was excessive. As protesters hurled Molotov cocktails, police on quad bikes raced across fields and fired tear gas and so-called LBD guns that shoot rubber balls. Use of LBDs was criticised during the Gilets Jaunes because it left more than a dozen people blinded or disfigured.
Debates over how French police handle protests and large gatherings have grown in recent years, particularly after the 2018 clashes with yellow vest protesters. Many in the UK woke up to French police tactics last year when crowds were tear gassed outside the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Critics argue the French police rely too much on force and intimidation while ignoring techniques used in countries with a community-based policing culture. Britain and Germany offer training on how to de-escalate situations by communicating with protesters, according to Sebastian Roché, a sociologist who specialises in police practices. By his count, five people have died at protests in France since 1985 versus only one in the UK, Canada, Germany and Italy respectively.
Paul Boyer, a 26-year-old freelance journalist sustained a cranial fracture and a broken hand when he was hit by police while interviewing a woman in the street. About 10 officers approached a cluster of protesters, and shouted for them to get out of the street before charging: “It happened very fast, I shouted that I was press but they hit me anyway.”
Following the Gilets Jaunes experience, the interior ministry developed a 40-page policy seeking to “protect demonstrators while being firm with those who commit violence”. It included guidelines on the use of techniques like kettling, tear gas and stun grenades, and how to treat journalists.
Those policies and the police itself are now being put to a stiff test, as protests have become more unpredictable since mid-March when the government rammed through its draft pensions law without a parliamentary vote.
“The irony is that despite the effort to create new clearer policies after the Gilets Jaunes, all of the principles are being violated,” said Roché. “These are unacceptable scenes, morally shocking to see in a western European democracy.”
Instead of the union-led demonstrations that occur on set dates and follow routes approved by police, small groups have started holding so-called wild protests at night, planned last minute on encrypted chats to avoid tracking. More radical elements who use “black bloc” tactics to attack police have also grown more visible.
Clashes with police have intensified. On March 23, there were 428 arrests and 552 police injured after union-led rallies descended into chaos with 900 fires set in Paris.
A multitude of smartphone videos have documented alleged abuses of officers punching and insulting people, and running over a demonstrator with a motorcycle.
In one incident in Paris, police arrested a number of people trying to leave a “wild protest”, including two Austrian teenagers on a school trip. They were held in jail for up to 48 hours while police investigated the allegations. “The police know these are bogus arrests, so they just hold them overnight and let them go,” said Alimi, the lawyer.
In a bid to prevent “wild protests” after things got out of hand on March 23, the prefecture of Paris issued a weekend-long ban on public gatherings across a swath of the capital. Lawyers challenged a subsequent ban in court and judges tossed it out as unfairly limiting the right to protest.
On Thursday, several thousand gathered in central Paris in a protest against police brutality. After nightfall, some marched on in a “wild protest”, shouting anti-police slogans and “Darmanin assassin”. The sound of police motorcycles approaching mingled with the boom of tear gas being released.
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