France is being swept by a wave of protests, with multiple videos of suspected police brutality going viral on French social media. In one video, police officers knock a man to the ground and then drag him away unconscious. Another video showed a police officer grabbing a young man from behind, grabbing him by the neck and dragging him away without any provocation. In another video, a young woman's arms were twisted behind her back and dragged away, screaming in pain. The authenticity of the videos cannot be independently verified.
Human rights groups have once again criticized French police not only for their enforcement methods but also for their use of stun grenades and rubber bullets. The French police are one of the best-equipped police forces in Europe. Over the past few weeks of student protests, several teenagers have suffered life-changing injuries: one had his hand blown off, one was blinded in one eye, and another suffered a broken jaw.
More than 500,000 people took to the streets in France on Saturday, most in peaceful protest. They criticize public sector cuts and the cost of living crisis and support students' demands for better classroom conditions.
The rioters took the opportunity to cause chaos, burning buildings, looting stores, and throwing objects at police, causing difficulties for the police and other emergency departments.
The weekend's protest follows a series of protests by high school students. They blocked school buildings with barricades to protest teacher shortages and demand repairs to dilapidated school facilities.
There will be more protests this weekend. The French government said it would even send in troops.
French police have a larger arsenal than most European countries. For example, police use a gun called the LBD-40, which fires rubber bullets.
Many countries, such as the UK and Germany, mostly do not allow the use of rubber bullets in protests. In some European countries such as Spain, rubber bullets are sometimes used, but they cause less damage than in France.
Anastassia Tsoukala, associate professor of criminology at the University of Paris-Sud, told DW: "This is not a phenomenon unique to France. But the use is regulated and you must keep a certain distance. Even if you try to follow the regulations, people may move and then all of a sudden, they may lose an eye. So it is extremely dangerous."
French police regularly use tear gas, as do police in many other European countries. But in war, the use of tear gas is effectively banned under agreements such as the Chemical Weapons Convention.
What sets French police apart from other countries is their use of stun grenades (also known as flash bangs, shock grenades or stun grenades).
"These grenades contain a large amount of explosives. France is unique from this perspective," Chukara said.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez insisted that the weapons used by police were "non-lethal". However, France’s own “Internal Security Code” lists some equipment used by the police as “war materiel.”
Police have been criticized again for using the weapons, causing injuries during protests. The teenager, who is blind in one eye, is suspected to have been hit by a rubber bullet fired from an LBD-40 at close range.
Sebastian Roché, a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) who specializes in comparing police forces across Europe, said: "In terms of crowd control, if we measure police violence by the number of deaths of demonstrators or crowds, but also by the number of maiming cases, then the French police are clearly the most brutal in the entire European Union."
He noted that understanding French police equipment and how it is used today requires looking at the political context.
The police expert said: "The political authorities are free to decide on the equipment of the police. When the LBD was first introduced into the (French) police force, it was for use by units such as the anti-organized crime unit. Today it is the same weapon used for crowd control. This shows how French politicians' ideas about how we can or should deal with political protests have changed."
Another difference between French police and those in other countries is the approach to law enforcement. For example, German police should in principle try to avoid escalating situations.
Roche compared the clearing operation of Lützerath in Germany in 2023 to the more attacking approach of Sainte-Soline in France in the same year. What happened in both places were environmental protests.
"In Lützerath, the police used dogs and some people were injured, but the number of serious injuries on both sides was much smaller. In Saint-Soline, the authorities sent out gendarmes, who used LBDs and grenades extensively. There were serious injuries among the police and demonstrators, and two protesters fell into coma."
According to international standards set by the United Nations, the use of force by law enforcement officials "should be an exception" and limited to "crime prevention" or "lawful arrest" situations. Any use of force should be subject to the "principle of proportionality," that is, it should not exceed the extent necessary to achieve the objective.
French Interior Minister Nunes insisted in a radio interview that the police had generally adhered to this principle during the protest. This principle is also enshrined in French law.
However, rights group Amnesty International described the police response to the protest as "disproportionate" and called on French authorities to "fulfill their human rights obligations".
The French League for Human Rights condemned the authorities' "violent suppression" of the high school student protest movement.
Deutsche Welle contacted two police unions and the French interior ministry for comment, but received no reply by the time of publication.
"It's very complicated to control all the different groups. The police are doing a great job and thanks to their commitment many crimes have been avoided," Interior Minister Núñez said in Marseille on Tuesday.
Experts criticized the police action.
Chukla said: "Public order must be subordinated to human life and safety. As a jurist, I should say that this is a non-negotiable value."
There is no independent oversight body for the French police, only an internal unit called the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) that investigates when things go wrong. IGPN said it had opened at least 40 cases for investigation since the latest wave of protests began.
Countries such as the United Kingdom and Denmark use different methods to investigate related incidents, with independent oversight agencies responsible. However, Chuukla criticized that across Europe, incidents involving police were handled too laxly and lacked transparency.
"They were acquitted or received very light penalties. I'm afraid this is standard practice across Europe in cases of police brutality," she said.
