July 8 () –
The French government has rejected this Saturday the criticism expressed the day before by the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) of the United Nations, which denounced “serious problems” of racism among the French security forces in the context of the death of the adolescent Nahel M. at the hands of a policeman in Nanterre and the consequent wave of riots in the country.
“France questions these comments, which it considers excessive and deplores the CERD’s forgetfulness of the unjustifiable violence committed in recent days against police officers, elected officials, public services, police stations, schools, social and assistance centers or even town halls, as well as numerous buildings.” , laments the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
France already had to come to terms with the criticism of racism issued by the UN last month, on that occasion from the Office of the High Representative for Human Rights.
Likewise, France expresses its “incomprehension” at “the lack of solidarity and compassion with respect to elected officials or representatives of French institutions who have been the object of attacks when they are the central actors of French democratic life, as well as with respect to the 800 injured policemen, gendarmes and firefighters”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs proceeds to dismiss as “unfounded” any accusation of racism or systemic discrimination by the forces of order in France, a country that respects international obligations and, in particular, those contracted before the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial discrimination,
Similarly, France defends the vigor of its rule of law by ensuring that it does not tolerate impunity for its security forces, recalling that the police officer responsible for the fatal shooting is currently in jail and charged with the death of the young man. For all these reasons, “France invites the CERD to exhibit greater discernment and moderation in its comments”, whose “biased nature” regrets the French government.