Rights watchdogs including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International said on Thursday, April 11, that they were seeking UN help to end racial profiling by the French police, they said. HRW and Amnesty International France, as well as three other French groups, have lodged a complaint with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Evidence and testimonies from victims and police show that in France “racial profiling particularly targets black and Arab young men and boys, or those perceived as such, including children as young as 10,” HRW said, adding: “These abusive and illegal identity checks, which are widespread throughout the country and deeply rooted in police practices, constitute systemic racial discrimination.”
France’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, found in October last year that racial profiling by the police was not limited to “isolated cases.” Yet “the government has taken no action to address the problem,” said HRW. “By failing to take the necessary measures to put an end to this practice, the French government is failing to meet its obligations under several international treaties,” it added.
The UN committee monitors compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which France has signed. In July last year, it had already raised concern about “excessive use of force by law enforcement” in France, and called on the country to ban racial profiling. The comments came after the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old teenager named Nahel during a traffic stop the previous month.
France’s rights ombudsman in 2017 found that a young person “perceived as black or Arab” was 20 times more likely to face an identity check than the rest of the population.
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