Feb 1, 2016

Thousands Mobilize in France Against 'Headlong Rush Into Authoritarianism'

'It is urgent to clearly demonstrate our refusal of this obnoxious policy'
By Andrea Germanos / commondreams.org
Thousands Mobilize in France Against 'Headlong Rush Into Authoritarianism'

Thousands of people in Paris and other French cities hit the streets on Saturday to protest the controversial state of emergency that one organization says is an indication of a "headlong rush into authoritarianism."

The measure, imposed following the November attacks in Paris, is set to expire February 26. Debate in the bicameral parliament is forthcoming, as Agence France-Presse reports, with "Senate [...] to vote on the proposal on February 9, followed by a vote in the National Assembly on February 16."

At the action in Paris, police said 5,000 took part, while organizers said the turnout was 20,000. Dozens of similar protests also took place Saturday in other cities across the nation.

Twitter users captured some of the actions:

Les banderoles de @laquadrature ont eu pas mal de succès pendant la manif#etatdurgence : Internet est avec nous ! pic.twitter.com/kdfknjcwKF

— Adrienne CharmetAlix (@AdrienneCharmet) January 30, 2016

Demonstrating in the rain - Manif #etatdurgencepic.twitter.com/v9XuyWHnZ7

— Amaelle Guiton (@amaelle_g) January 30, 2016

"No security without freedom, no peace without justice" mobilizations in all around #France #etatdurgence pic.twitter.com/fX0j9jAnIn

— 15MBcn_int (@15MBcn_int) January 30, 2016

"Non à l'état d'urgence" : quelques centaines de manifestants à #Bordeaux#etatdurgence https://t.co/8dyDxIdjG4 pic.twitter.com/dXG3YMszOk

— France Bleu Gironde (@Bleu_Gironde) January 30, 2016

#Bayonne #Baiona
Contre #etatdurgence & état policier 
Ici Grp #Attac #PaysBasque et son #ours mascotte @attac_frpic.twitter.com/17BgDUy2GT

— Lamiscarre B (@lamiscarreb) January 30, 2016

Paris-based civil liberties group La Quadrature du Net earlier this week called on people to take part in one of the protests, and also urged people to call members of parliament to voice their concerns.

"To stop the government's escalation of security measures, which destroys the bases of our institutions day after day and trivializes attacks on fundamental rights, it is urgent to clearly demonstrate our refusal of this obnoxious policy," the organization said in a media statement.

"As everyone is affected, everyone has the power to show the government that its actions are misguided and that it would be far stronger if it questioned its choices and decided to fight France's enemies with the weapons of law and civil liberties," that statement adds.

"The permanent state of emergency must not be allowed to become the norm in France," said Adrienne Charmet, the group's campaigns coordinator, adding, "It violates numerous fundamental rights and undermines the foundations of democracy."

"We count on French citizens to be wiser than their government and to massively mobilize in order to openly express, by emails or phone calls to their MPs and by going to the multiple demonstrations on 30 January, that these excessive security measures and headlong rush into authoritarianism are not what we want for France," she said.

The protests come on the heels of the resignation of French justice minister Christiane Taubira over President François Hollande's controversial anti-terror proposals.  "Sometimes to resist means leaving," she said.

The protests also come the same week as France's top administrative court rejected anappeal brought by the Paris-based League of Human Rights that urged the body to suspend all or part of the state of emergency, and follows a joint statement by a group of United Nations human rights experts who warned that the measures "impose excessive and disproportionate restrictions on fundamental freedoms."


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

Rate article 
Human Rights
Trending Articles
We Can't Grow Infinitely on a Finite Planet
Can You See It?
Thought-Provoking Comics
Subscribe for $5/mo to Watch over 50 Patron-Exclusive Films

Become a Patron. Support Films For Action.

For $5 a month, you'll gain access to over 50 patron-exclusive documentaries while keeping us ad-free and financially independent. We need 350 more Patrons to grow our team in 2024.

Subscribe here

Your support helps grow our 6000+ video library, which is 99% free thanks to our patrons!