The Interior Ministry should think about the "appropriateness" of hand-held grenades (GMD) as a tool of law and order, the Defender of Rights said Friday, seized the case of a man seriously injured in 2016.
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"Suspected of causing serious bodily harm"
This grenade, which produces a detonation of more than 150 decibels, randomly projects 18 rubber pebbles at a speed of 125m / second in a radius of 30 meters, and is part of the policemen heavily criticized by the protesters. , such as defense ball launchers or tear gas grenades GLI-F4.
The Defender of Rights had already, in a report of 2018, asked for the prohibition of these two last weapons, accused of having made serious wounded among the demonstrators during the movement of the "yellow vests". Regarding the GMD, Jacque Toubon "recommends to the Minister of the Interior (...) to engage in an in-depth reflection on the relevance of the endowment, for law enforcement operations, of this weapon likely to seriously impair the physical integrity of those affected and expose police officers to significant risks. "
No state of "absolute necessity" according to the Defender of Rights
The Defender of Rights had seized himself after the serious head injuries - open wound, hematoma ... - of a man at the end of a demonstration against the labor law in May 2016. "The grenade exploded "This man who fell instantly explains the Defender of Rights. Adding that the police officer who had launched it had not made it in a state of "absolute necessity", Jacques Toubon recommends the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against this police officer. "In the moments before the throwing of the grenade, the police officers were not aggression or attempted aggression," says the opinion.
The GMD is supposed to be used in case of imminent danger, especially to disperse (with summations) a crowd or repress (without warning) violence against the police. She is accused of causing various serious injuries, including hearing damage, facial injuries (to the eye in particular) and other cuts, according to protesters, according to "Disarm them" and associations such as Acat , which also points "risks of amputation or even death, in case of explosion near a limb or a vital zone".