The withdrawal of the GLI-F4 grenade, stroke of com 'or change of course?

• GLI-F4 is a tear gas canister that contains 30 grams of explosive, including 26 from TNT.
• This intermediate weapon, which Christophe Castaner announced the abandonment this Sunday, ceased to be produced in 2014 and was initially to be used until stocks last.
• Some lawyers for injured demonstrators and associations defending public freedoms denounce a "communication call" and an "announcement effect".
• The GLI-F4 is already replaced by another tear gas canister, the GM2L.

Blow of com 'or change of course? The Minister of the Interior announced this Sunday the "immediate" withdrawal of the GLI-F4 tear gas canister from the security forces' arsenal. This intermediate ammunition, used by the police to disperse crowds during law enforcement operations, is said to be the cause of mutilations and serious injuries to demonstrators since its introduction in 2011. Dangerousness has prompted a collective of lawyers to ask Emmanuel Macron for his ban from the start of the "yellow vests" movement, in November 2018. In vain. A few months later, a similar petition filed before the Council of State was also rejected.

Despite the announced abandonment of the weapon, the Interior Minister still assured in June 2018 to Liberation that this grenade would be "used while stocks last". Meanwhile, Christophe Castaner was commissioned by the Head of State to "rethink" the pattern of maintaining order in France. So how do you analyze this decision? Should this be seen as a desire to appease the increasingly lively criticisms leveled against the management of violence during demonstrations? Or is it simply the result of a long-term planned development? 20 Minutes takes stock.

• What is the GLI-F4 grenade and what was the stock available?

Used by the only French law enforcement agency since 2011, the “GLI-F4 SAE 810” grenade is a triple effect tear gas grenade. It contains 30 grams of explosives, including 26 from TNT, and its explosion can reach 165 decibels. Used by police and gendarmes charged with maintaining order, its explosion can cause serious hearing damage during its explosion, or even amputations or death.

In a press release issued in May 2019, the Acat, a Christian NGO against torture and the death penalty, stated: "According to information communicated by the Ministry of the Interior to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of l 'Europe, 1,428 GLI-F4 grenades were fired between November 17, 2018 and February 4, 2019. "

Difficult to know the stock still available in the French arsenal. According to our information, a census of available grenades is being carried out within the various police and gendarmerie services. David Michaux, CRS national secretary at Unsa police, however, explains: “During 2019, we already had almost no more. In April 2019, we were told not to use them anymore. And the stock was exhausted at the CRS from October 2019. ”Once determined, the remaining stock of GLI-F4 should be destroyed.

• Was this decision expected?

The newspaper Liberation had revealed in June 2018 the abandonment of production of the GLI-F4 in 2014. For the Acat, this decision is "in reality not motivated [e] by a serious concern of the authorities on the dangerousness of this weapon but by the refusal of its manufacturer - the company Alsetex - to continue to produce it following an accident which occurred in its manufacturing plant in 2014. The Minister of the Interior indicated then that these grenades would be used until 'at disposal of stocks and gradually replaced'. In fact, the GM2L tear gas canister has already been distributed in services.

🔴COMMUNIQUE LAWYERS: The announcement made by @CCastaner concerning the withdrawal of # GLIF4 does not seem to us to come from a belated awareness of the dangerousness of these weapons but from a communication operation in a context of media coverage of police violence . pic.twitter.com/hIsxhkuJ9W

Same analysis on the side of a group of five lawyers responsible for the defense of protesters injured during the mobilization of "yellow vests". They denounce an announcement "purely media and cosmetic". "It actually only acts as the exhaustion of stocks of GLI-F4 grenades replaced by another grenade, just as explosive and dangerous," say the lawyers. Contacted by 20 Minutes, the Ministry of the Interior acknowledges that the withdrawal of the GLI-F4 "was in any case in progress" but insisted: "This decision comes within the framework of the reflection on the diagram of the maintenance of order . Reflection itself based on the work of experts on the subject and associations that have been listened to. ”

• What is the GM2L, a grenade which is intended to replace the GLI-F4, and what will it change?

The GM2L SAE 820 grenade is an instant tear gas grenade produced by the same company behind the GLI-F4. “The GM2L does not contain an explosive, which means that when it explodes, it does not produce a blast effect. However, the sound effect produced is also important and can create very significant lesions if it is picked up by hand. It remains an extremely dangerous weapon, "admits the Ministry of the Interior, contacted by 20 Minutes .

A danger that arouses criticism from associations defending public freedoms. If the League for Human Rights (LDH) welcomes the early withdrawal announced by the Interior, it judges this decision "late", after "months of denial": "Its replacement by the GM2L model is not without risk, without a radical change in law enforcement strategy, "deplores the association in a press release released on Monday.

The Acat adds: “Both of 56 mm caliber, they function identically and are used under similar conditions. The GM2L is composed of a pyrotechnic module - the content of which is also not public - and also produces a tear and deafening effect ”.

Like the lawyers of the injured demonstrators, the NGOs are now calling on the government to review all the practices deployed in terms of policing. After seven months of consultations relating to the establishment of a new "national scheme" on the subject, the ministry announced to 20 Minutes that it will deliver its conclusions "in the coming weeks".

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Christophe Castaner announces the “immediate” withdrawal of a controversial grenade

• Police violence
• Demonstration
• Society
• Grenade
• Christophe Castaner
• armament