France: "zero tolerance" of racism in the police, promises the government

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. FranceTV

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French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner advocated on Monday a "zero tolerance" of racism within the police and announced the abandonment of a controversial method of arrest, called "strangulation".

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No racist can wear the police or gendarme uniform with dignity  ," Castaner said during a press conference, as protests against police violence have multiplied in recent days in France, in the wake of the historic protest in the United States caused by the death of George Floyd, a black American asphyxiated by a white police officer.

Castaner said a suspension would be "systematically considered" if there was a suspicion of a racist act or speech by a police officer, and decreed the abandonment of the method of arrest of "the taking by the neck, called strangulation ”.

It will no longer be taught in police and gendarmerie schools. It was a dangerous method,  "said the Minister.

He also said he was "troubled" by the testimony on the circumstances of the arrest of a 14-year-old boy, Gabriel, in the Paris suburbs on May 25, and assured that the "light would be shed" on this case.

The teenager was severely injured in the eye when he was arrested in Bondy while trying to steal a scooter, and accused the police of kicking him in the face.

Racism and police violence in the spotlight in France

President Emmanuel Macron called on his government for quick proposals Monday to improve the ethics of the police, while the subject of racism and police violence has come back into the spotlight in France. The latter were already widely denounced during the unprecedented movement of social protest against yellow vests in 2018 and 2019.

On Saturday, more than 23,000 demonstrators marched in France to denounce the police violence and to demand "justice for all". At the beginning of last week, a demonstration had gathered some 20,000 people in Paris, at the call of the family of Adama Traoré, a young black man who died in 2016 after his arrest.

New rallies and tributes are planned for Tuesday in the country to salute the memory of George Floyd, at the time of his funeral in Houston (Texas).

The death of George Floyd has aroused unprecedented global outrage and brought tens of thousands of people to the streets who, from London to Sydney via Rome and Madrid, have defied health-related prohibitions to protest the racism and police brutality.

(With AFP )

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  • Justice
  • Racism
  • France
  • Christophe Castaner

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