Human Rights Watch Report: French Police Engage In Racial Profiling
By Terance Walsh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
PARIS, France — Human rights watch issued a report Thursday documenting discriminatory practices of French police. The report accuses the police of “using overly broad powers to conduct unwarranted and abusive identity checks on black and Arab young men and boys.”
Details of the discriminatory acts in the report, entitled “The Root of Humiliation: Abusive Identity Checks in France,” include probing questioning, invasive patdowns, and sometimes excessive force. Usually the checks are done without any indication of wrongdoing and at times involve the use of racial slurs. The report focuses its attention on minority communities in the cities of Paris, Lille, and Lyon.
Judith Sutherland, a Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, “It’s shocking that young black and Arab kids can be, and are, arbitrarily forced up against walls and manhandled by the police with no real evidence of wrongdoing. But if you are a young person in some neighborhoods in France, it’s a part of life.”
This kind of behavior by the police is allowed under French law, which affords broad discretion to police for search and seizure. The police do not systematically record the searches nor do they give documentation explaining to those searched the premises of the check.
The political climate in France seems to foster this kind of discrimination. In the last presidential election law enforcement and reducing crime were top issues. President Nicholas Sarkozy came to power with a “law-and-order” image. Now far-right politicians who take hard-line stances on immigration are registering high poll numbers.
Farid A., who lives outside of Paris, said that he and his friends were stopped three times near the Eiffel Tower. “We came out of the metro, a check. We walk 200 meters, another check. We walk 200 meters, and another check. There were a lot of people, but they stopped only us.”
Incidents of violence were also noted in the report. On 17-year-old boy gave his account of an encounter with the police. “When we were there with our hands against the wall, I turned toward him [the officer who was frisking him] and he hit me on the head. I said something like why are you hitting me, and he said to shut up, ‘You want a shot of [tear] gas or what?”
In its report, Human Rights Watch warns that ethnic profiling by the police works to divide the community. France should be especially sensitive to animosity between races following the 2005 riots that grew out of tension between police and ethnic minorities.
“Frankly, police-community relations in France are dismal, and everyone knows it,” Sunderland said. “Taking concrete steps to prevent abusive identity checks – one of the main sources of tension – would be a real step forward and would make a genuine difference in people’s daily lives.”
Pascal Garibian, the national spokesman for the police, dismissed the Human Rights Watch report as a caricature of the police and called it unfair and unscientific.
This is not the first report documenting racial profiling by French law-enforcement authorities. A report from 2007-2008 by Open Society Justice Initiative found that black people are six times more likely to be searched by police and Arab people are eight times more likely to be checked by the police.
Included in the report were several statements from French citizens who recount unreasonable searches by police. Here are a few.
Ouamar C., 13 years old, Paris
“I was sitting with some friends…and they came to do a stop. I didn’t talk because if you talk they take you downtown. They opened my bag. They searched my body too. Like every time. They didn’t find anything on me. That was the first time it happened in front of my school. They say, ‘Up against the wall.’ They search, and when it’s over they say thank-you and leave…I was scared at first, now I’m getting used to it.”
Haroun A., 14 years old, Bobigny:
“I was at the shopping mall with some friends having fun. They [the police] come with their weapons and point them at us. There were three of them. They said: ‘Identity check.’ Two of them had their Flash-Balls [a gun that shoots rubber bullets] in their hands. There were five or six of us. We weren’t doing anything. They just stop us all the time like that. When there’s a group of us, they stop us right away. They asked if we had stuff. They put us against the wall. They search even in our socks and shoes. They didn’t find anything. They don’t always ask for our papers.”
Halim B., 17 years old, Lille:
“The bus stops and the police come on. I was sitting in the back. It was 7:20 in the morning. The bus was full…They pointed to one guy and said, ‘You get up and get off with us.’ I was watching. I thought he was a criminal. And then they pointed at me to get off too. Three people had to get off, and two of them were Arabs. The bus was full. There were plenty of people standing. There were more [white] French on the bus…They [the police] have the right to do these checks whenever they like but honestly I was upset. I felt like I was a burglar, a wanted criminal. I was scared when they told me to get off. I wondered what I’d done. When I got off [the bus], they said, ‘contrôle [identity check], do you have anything illegal on you, empty your pockets.’ They searched my bag and then let me go. I got to school a bit late. Honestly, I wasn’t poorly dressed or anything, I was going to school.”
For more information please see:
BikyaMasr — French Police Abuse Power With Black And Arab Men, Says Report — 27 January 2012
Connexion — ‘Excessive’ Police Force Criticized — 27 January 2012
OnIslam — Police Under Fire On Minority Abuse — 27 January 2012
RFI — French Police Accused Of Racial Profiling By Human Rights Group — 27 January 2012
Human Rights Watch — France: Abusive Identification Checks Of Minority Youth — 26 January 2012
Jordanian Activist Guilty of Burning King’s Image
By Tyler Yates
Impunity Watch, Middle East
A Jordanian activist has been found guilty of “harming the king’s dignity” for burning a street poster of Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Odai Abu-Issa, an 18 year old from Madaba, 40 kilometers south of Amman, and a member of the Youth Movement for Reform, torched the poster in front of government office in southwest Jordan two weeks ago.
The charge is included among several acts that prohibit insulting the king, for which article 195 of Jordan’s penal code imposes sentences of between one and three years.
Abu-Issa was also charged with setting property on fire, which is punishable with hard labor.
While no clear motive for Abu-Issa’s actions has been reported, he belongs to a small group of young Jordanians who have been demanding that the king’s absolute powers be curbed.
A military prosecutor said the verdict was issued Thursday by the military State Security Court.
Human Rights Watch had been calling on Jordan’s prosecutor to drop the charges since they were first issued. Although criminal prosecutions for the destruction of other people’s property is permissible, criminalizing insults against a head of state is incompatible with international human rights standards protecting the right to freedom of expression, Human Right Watch said.
“Burning a royal’s image as a political statement should not be criminally prosecuted,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “To prosecute this act would send a chilling message that criticizing the king is off limits.”
Abu-Issa’s lawyer, Moussa Al-Abdallat, called the sentence “harsh” and said that he will appeal.
In December 2011, the State Security Court detained and charged Abu-Issa for slogans he shouted against the king during a protest in Madaba. The trials for this charge are still currently in progress.
Human Rights Watch has documented numerous cases of Jordan charging individuals under the laws prohibiting insulting the king, including incidents at a barbershop, during parliamentary campaigning, and for poetry published on facebook.
In early August, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a new general comment on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 19. “The mere fact that forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify the imposition of penalties…in any case, the application of the criminal law should only be countenanced in the most serious of cases [of dangerous speech] and imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty.”
King Abdullah signed a law in September that restricts the State Security Court’s jurisdiction over civilians to four types of offenses – high treason, espionage, terrorism, and drug trafficking – but these changes do not go into force for three years. The Jordanian Parliament voted down proposals to remove the court’s entire jurisdiction over civilians.
For more information, please see:
Ahram — Jordan activist jailed for burning king’s picture — 26 Jan. 2012
Boston Globe — Jordan youth critical of king gets jail time — 26 Jan. 2012
Press TV — Jordanian jailed for burning king image — 26 Jan. 2012
IEWY — Jordan: Drop Charges for ‘Undermining Royal Dignity” — 24 Jan. 2012
Decision Rejecting UN Selected Judge from Khmer Rouge Tribunals Stands
By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodia has announced that it will not overrule the rejection of Judge Kasper-Ansermet who was selected by the United Nations to preside over the Khmer Rouge Tribunal which is also known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).
According to an official spokesman, Phay Siphan, Cambodia’s Supreme Council of Magistracy is entrusted with final decision-making authority on whether the government would accept the United Nation’s choice of co-investigating judge at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.
As such, the Cambodian government maintains that they are unable to override a decision made by the top judicial body despite statements by United Nations officials that the rejection is a breach of the ECCC agreement.
Special expert on U.N. assistance to the Khmer Rouge trial, David Scheffer, claims the Cambodia did not have authority under the agreement to prevent Kasper-Ansermet from taking the position.
“Our view is that this particular individual, judge Kasper-Ansermet, has clear authority to fulfill his duties in this country and we look forward to him doing so,” Scheffer stated.
According to Scheffer, Kasper-Ansermet is expected to begin work on the investigation of two individuals suspected to have played a role in the “year zero” revolution that claimed the lives of over two million.
Many believe that his intention to investigate the two individuals is what led to his rejection. Many believe that Cambodia’s government is attempting to prevent the investigation of further cases and the two individual’s in question have been particularly controversial.
Furthermore, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was himself a Khmer Rouge soldier, has threatened civil war if more indictments are issued.
A meeting between UN Secretary General’s Special Expert David Scheffer and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, which was intended to settle a dispute over the appointment of the co-investigating judge, proved fruitless.
According to a statement by Cambodia’s Council of Ministers, the two sides held differing views on the interpretation of tribunal agreement but “…they intend to continue their close discussions on the most critical issues, and both remain optimistic that the court can achieve its mandate.”
Many believe that the Cambodian government has continuously placed hurdles in front of the tribunal causing some to question the nation’s dedication to a successful tribunal.
Since its founding in 2003, the tribunal has spent $150 million dollars and has achieved only one conviction.
The man convicted was sentenced to thirty-five years in prison, which was later commuted to nineteen years, for his role in the death of 14,000 people at a Cambodian torture center.
The tribunal stems from the execution, torture, starvation, overwork and disease that occurred under the Maoist regime between 1975 and 1979 and resulted in over two million deaths.
For more information, please see:
AFP – UN Defends Judge in Khmer Rouge Trial Row – 25 January 2012
Reuters – U.N. Says Won’t Change Judge for Cambodia War Crimes Court – 25 January 2012
Voice of America – UN Insists on Appointment of Swiss Tribunal Judge – 25 January 2012
Radio Free Asia – No Reversal of Tribunal Judge Decision – 24 January 2012
Detainee Dies From Torture In Bahrain, Opposition Says
By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
MANAMA, Bahrain – On Thursday, 26 January, Bahrain’s police reported 18-year-old Mohammed Yaaqub died from sickle cell disease, a chronic disease, while in custody. Although the officers asserted he died of natural causes, Wefaq, the main Shi’ite Muslim opposition group, claimed the young man died from torture.
The police detained him on Wednesday for “acts of violence and sabotage.” Police officers also clashed with and wounded several protesters in four Shi’ite villages in the country on Wednesday.
Wefaq stated the victim sustained injuries after he was squeezed him between two police cars while they followed him. Yaaqub attempted to flee a Shi’ite led protest when clashes erupted between the protesters and the security forces. The police then detained him and tortured him rather than treating his injuries.
Leading opposition figure and former Minister of Parliament Matar Matar commented, “Instead of receiving the necessary medical treatment, the police took him to the yard opposite Sitra police station where he was tortured.”
With the announcement of Yaaqub’s death, the government issued a statement that did not identify the victim. The police hospitalized the victim and charged him with vandalism that occurred during the demonstration. The Interior Minister stated public prosecutors would investigate the victim’s death.
Throughout the past year, Bahrain’s police quashed pro-democracy protests led by the Shi’ite Muslim majority. The protests called to limit the Sunni ruling family’s authority, to cease sectarian discrimination, to ensure the Shi’ite majority secured a stronger voice in government and security affairs.
The government detained over 1,000 people during the year’s protests. Thirty-five people died since March 2011 in nonstop unrest, including five security personnel and five people in custody, who were tortured to death. Bahrain’s inquiry of the protest and crackdown disclosed officials abused and tortured detainees.
As the one-year anniversary of the protests approaches, violence has increased in the country. The Interior Minister reported 41 riot police officers sustained injuries when protesters threw rocks, bottles, metal rods, and petrol bombs at the officers last week. The government considers protests by Shi’ite youths, which may include these violent acts, as vandalism.
A Bahraini rights group reported that thirteen people died from indiscriminate use of tear gas since February 2011. On Thursday, Amnesty International called for Bahrain to investigate the issue. Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, an Amnesty International regional deputy director, said, “The rise in fatalities and eyewitness accounts suggest that tear gas is being used inappropriately by Bahraini security forces, including in people’s homes and other confined spaces.”
For further information, please see:
Ahram Online – Detained Bahraini Protester Dies: Ministry – 26 Jan 2012
Al Jazeera – Bahrain Confirms Teen Died in Police Custody – 26 Jan 2012
Boston Globe – Protester In Bahrain Dies After Arrest – 26 Jan 2012
Reuters UK – Bahrain Detainee Dies In Custody, Opposition Sees Torture – 26 Jan 2012