CoE human rights body slams Paris for 'excessive force' on protestors

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
24 Mar 2023 21:51

The Council says that the violent acts of some protestors do not justify depriving "peaceful protesters of their right to freedom of assembly".

French riot police apprehend a protester amid clashes during a demonstration against pension reform in Paris on March 23, 2023. (Reuters)

Europe's leading human rights organization - the Council of Europe - denounces France's "excessive use of force" against anti-pension reforms, AFP reported on Friday.

"Violent incidents have occurred, including some that have targeted the forces of law and order," the council's commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said.

"But the sporadic acts of violence of some protesters or other reprehensible acts committed by other persons during a protest cannot justify excessive use of force by agents of the state. These acts are also not enough to deprive peaceful protesters of their right to freedom of assembly," she added.

On Thursday, Some 3.5 million people took to the streets across France to protest against the government's pension reform plan introduced by French President Emmanuel Macron, the country's major CGT union said.

Around 12,000 police members, including 5,000 in Paris, were to be deployed during the day, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin highlighted.

In Paris, violent clashes between protesters and security forces were recorded as demonstrations witness their ninth day.

Passing government vote over reform plan

On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced the adoption of the law extending the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years old by the government without a vote in the parliament. The lower house's chairwoman, Yael Braun-Pivet, declared that "the law is regarded adopted from this point forward."

Following the decision, on March 20 the government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, but the outrage has initiated the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second term.