TEHRAN- Experts appointed by the United Nations have said the French security forces’ “acts of violence” against protesters “is alarming”.

The experts had been reviewing the response to protests by French security forces toward mass protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular pension reforms, earlier this year, and they have expressed concern at the reported excessive use of force.  

The UN experts have called on France to respect and promote the right to peaceful protests.

French police have resorted to violent tactics against peaceful protesters on more than one occasion. The use of force by French security forces has not been limited to the anti-pension protests against Macron.

“The lack of restraint in the use of force against members of civil society for demanding their rightful participation in decision-making processes concerning their future, access to natural resources, the protection of human rights, dignity and equality would not only be anti-democratic, but profoundly worrying for the protection of the rule of law,” the experts said.

The experts have called on authorities in France to undertake a comprehensive review of their policing strategies and enable protesters to voice their concerns and to facilitate the peaceful protest and participation in public affairs.

They have reiterated their call on authorities to fulfil their international obligations toward peaceful protests and to take necessary steps to investigate acts of violence during demonstrations and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Since the beginning of the year, hundreds of thousands of people have mobilized nationwide in France to denounce the government’s proposed measures to raise the pension retirement age.

Despite the mass rallies and strikes, Macron went ahead with the move, bypassing a parliamentary vote on the matter in the process.

The experts pointed out that protesters from all age groups and different social movements, including trade unionists and environmentalists, had protested in a peaceful manner with their demands clearly made before taking to the streets.

“The police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds: ammunition that France is the only European country to use in public order operations,” the experts said.

The police crackdown reportedly left dozens of people injured, including protesters, journalists, and elected officials, as well as passers-by.

A highly controversial motorized brigade in Paris dubbed the “Brav-M” threatened and physically assaulted demonstrators, and in Sainte-Soline police are said to have fired rubber bullets from moving quad bikes, while emergency services were reportedly prevented from intervening to rescue a seriously injured person. Across different cities, there were reports of several people being arbitrarily arrested.

“The number of people injured and the severity of reported acts of violence is alarming.” The expert said.

They have also received worrying information on the use of rhetoric by government officials in a bid to criminalize human rights defenders. They expressed concern about a growing trend of stigmatization and criminalization of individuals and civil society organizations to justify the excessive, repeated, and intensified use of force against them.

“The right to peaceful assembly is a fundamental right that forms the very basis of participatory governance systems founded on democracy, human rights, the rule of law and pluralism,” they said.

“We remind France that any policing strategy must respect the principles of necessity and proportionality, with the sole aim of facilitating peaceful assemblies and protecting the fundamental rights of participants – including their right to life and to physical and psychological integrity,” concluded the experts.

Despite the damning report, and not the first of its kind by experts appointed by the UN, there have been no sanctions against French authorities.

Many have pointed out how this is in stark contrast to the riots that hit Iran last year and spells another angle of double standards by the West.

Despite footage showing armed thugs mercilessly killing Iranian police officers and security forces in cold blood, Iran has seen a wave of Western sanctions imposed on its officials.

On the other hand, the footage from France shows security forces using excessive force against peaceful protests and no punitive measures have been taken against Paris, even after the UN has condemned the French policing practices.

UN experts had already expressed similar concerns to the French government in 2019, during the Yellow Vest protests.

The Yellow Vests Revolution was a series of popular weekly protests in France that began on 17 November 2018. At first the protestors called for economic justice; later they advocated for institutional political reforms.

In February 2019, a group of UN human rights experts published another alarming report about the right to protest in France, saying it has been disproportionately curtailed during the Yellow Vest protests and the authorities should rethink their law enforcement policies to guarantee the exercise of freedoms.

“Since the start of the Yellow Vest protest movement in November 2018, we have received serious allegations of excessive use of force. More than 1,700 people have been injured as a result of the protests across the country,” the experts said at the time.

“The restrictions on rights have also resulted in a high number of arrests and detentions, searches and confiscations of demonstrators' possessions, and serious injuries have been caused by a disproportionate use of so-called ‘non-lethal’ weapons like grenades and defensive bullets or ‘flashballs’,” they said.

"It is very disturbing to note that despite weeks of demonstrations, the restrictions and tactics of managing rallies and the use of force have not improved.” 

Less than three months after the Yellow Vest protests kicked off in November 2018, French government figures said 1,700 protesters had been injured. 

Out of those injured, 100 were seriously hurt and 11 people died in just eleven weeks. 

By March 2019, a French investigative journal revealed that police injured hundreds of more protesters. Scores sustained leg injuries while dozens of others were wounded in the chest. Among those injured were 56 journalists and 37 high school students.

According to the French government figures, 11 people were killed and over 2,000 others were injured at the time. The French Interior Ministry said in February that security forces arrested some 8,400 people. Additionally, at least 1,796 others received prison sentences.

A year after the popular weekly demonstrations began, at least 24 people lost an eye as a result of police brutality, joining the many others that have been paralyzed for life by French security forces. 

French police are known to be very violent against any peaceful rallies that have taken place and violating the protesters' human rights. This brutality has been occurring for decades.

This is while Paris is very quick to lecture other countries on human rights, where deadly violence, which the West labels as “peaceful protesters” actually occurs.

The world, as it stands today, is conformed. Western nations who have a permanent seat in international organizations like the UN Security Council have an unfair privilege.

In an ideal world, France would have been punished by the UN Security Council for the brutality it has displayed against peaceful protesters calling for their rights.

There are some who enjoy impunity for making major criminal mistakes, while others are very quickly condemned and sanctioned.

French police have used even more violence against French Africans living in the suburbs as well as the working class, who have become used to this form of injustice for decades.

Critics say this is the only method that French police use to control sectors of the society and that French police are in need of urgent reforms in terms of training.