France in the sights of Amnesty International.

The NGO called on the French government on Thursday (January 28) to suspend its arms sales to Lebanon, claiming that French-made tear gas, rubber bullets and grenade launchers were being used by the country's law enforcement agencies. to suppress demonstrations.

"France has for years provided the Lebanese security forces with law enforcement equipment which they then use to commit or facilitate serious human rights violations," the NGO lamented in a statement.

France must no longer fuel the repression of demonstrations in Lebanon!

https://t.co/Tri3hTX3u8

- Elluin (@ElluinA) January 28, 2021

"Climate of impunity"

"We call on France to ensure that sales are suspended until the Lebanese authorities recognize the abuses committed in the past" and commit to using them "in accordance with international law," Aymeric said. Elluin, from Amnesty International France.

According to him, "the Lebanese security forces are acting in a climate of impunity".

"Irritating chemicals such as tear gas and projectiles (...) like rubber bullets, as well as the corresponding launchers" had already been used in 2015 to suppress a vast protest movement in the face of an unprecedented waste crisis having saw mountains of rubbish piling up in the capital and elsewhere in the country, Amnesty said.

These French-made weapons were also used on several occasions after the outbreak in October 2019 of an unprecedented anti-power protest movement demanding the departure of an entire political class deemed corrupt and incompetent, according to the NGO.

"Excessive use of force"

The police also used "armored vehicles of French manufacture", it is specified in the press release.

Amnesty International's conclusions are based on the analysis of more than 100 videos of protests filmed in Beirut in 2015 and 2019, as well as on testimonies and medical files collected in the field.

According to Amnesty, the Lebanese security forces even used these weapons in a manner contrary to conventional uses, firing tear gas canisters at close range or rubber bullets at chest height, sometimes at close range, between October 2019 and August 2020.

This "excessive use of force" resulted in serious injuries to the eyes, face, neck, chest, upper arm and stomach in several protesters, the NGO said.

With AFP

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