French organizations call for measures against ethnic profiling by police

Six civil society organizations threaten to sue the French government because the French police are systematically guilty of ethnic profiling during the control of identity documents.

The black French and the French of North African origin would be the victims. They are humiliated and frustrated by illegal controls, the organizations say. Officers guilty of ethnic profiling go unpunished.

The six organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, sent a letter to Prime Minister Castex and the interior and justice ministers calling for reforms in the near future. These are aimed at preventing someone from having to show their ID card just because of their appearance.

New law

The appeal to the government is a necessary step in order to be able to go to court later. This is possible if, in the opinion of the complainants, the government has not done enough to satisfy them in four months. The plaintiffs use a law introduced in 2016 that allows joint charges in discrimination cases.

“This is a revolutionary step, as we defend hundreds, thousands, even a million people,” said one of the lawyers representing the six groups.

Testimonials

He and his team have collected around fifty witness statements from victims and officers across France, including that of an anonymous person who has had to show his identity card several times a day for years.

A woman says she has been harassed by officers several times a day since she was 16. On one of these occasions, she was reportedly pressed against a wall. “One of the officers touched my genitals. Then he punched me in the stomach and called me a ‘dirty Arab’.”

A policeman who lives in a deprived area told the AP news agency that he, too, was often stopped by colleagues when he took to the streets in civilian clothes. “If I’m not wearing a uniform, I’m someone of a color to them,” he says. According to him, in 80% of cases, agents check identity documents because of someone’s appearance, without any legal basis.

Victims of ethnic profiling often live in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Police spokespersons say officers often feel unsafe there. Often times they are bombarded with fireworks and objects.

Twenty times more likely

Human Rights Watch Editor Last year a report on the abuse of power and discrimination by the French police. “Young people of black or North African appearance are more often than average arrested for identity checks, especially in certain disadvantaged neighborhoods,” said the director of the French branch of the human rights organization.

The French Mediator published a study a few years ago which showed that young people of black or North African appearance are up to 20 times more likely to be arrested by the police than other French people.