Watchdog accuses French police of abusing black, Arab boys and men

Demonstrators attend a protest against alleged police brutality and the 2016 death in police custody of black Frenchman Adama Traoré, at Place de la République in Paris, France, 13 June 2020. © Reuters/Benoit Tessier

Children as young as ten, teenagers and adults were made to endure often intrusive and humiliating body checks – sometimes with racist abuse – as police searched their personal belongings, the watchdog said, adding the incidents are usually not recorded, and police rarely explain why the check is being carried out.

The allegations come amid weeks of widespread protests over alleged racism and brutality in France’s security forces, with many demonstrations alluding to the death of young black man Adama Traoré in police custody in 2016.

At a time of reckoning in #France around racism, gov't should reform police powers to stop&search, used too often to target young black & brown men & boys

➡️Prohibit discrimination
➡️Introduce stop forms
➡️Adopt clear rules for stops involving childrenhttps://t.co/ZNJIJqSGSW pic.twitter.com/iQ9O6LBX4A

— Judith Sunderland (@sunderland_jude) June 18, 2020

Protests in Paris and other French cities have drawn thousands, galvanised by outrage sweeping the United States following the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd, who died of asphyxiation after a white officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes.

In Traoré’s case, one of the three officers admitted that he and two colleagues pinned Traoré down using their body weight, but deny this caused his death.

• Alleged French police brutality in the spotlight as Traoré death resurfaces

Calling for an end to ethnic profiling and institutionalised racism in France, HRW concluded that reining in police powers was the only way to combat prejudiced practices and to restore faith between the police and the people.

“There is ample evidence that identity checks in France drive a deep and sharp wedge between communities and the police, while doing virtually nothing to deter or detect crime,” HRW’s France director Bénédicte Jeannerod said.

The huge photomontage mural on a Paris wall by French street art star JR of Adama Traore and the black American George Floyd AFP

The organisation’s 44-page report, “They Talk to Us Like We’re Dogs”: Abusive Police Stops in France, is based on interviews with 90 men and boys belonging to minority groups in Paris, Grenoble, Strasbourg and Lille.

Police have rejected claims they are institutionally racist, arguing the problems are down to individual security force members.

Official French statistics do not document the race of people stopped by the police, as the collection of this information – along with a person’s ethnicity, or political or religious views – is banned by law.

– With AFP