In a recent meeting, the United Nations Human Rights Council criticized the violation of the rights of Muslims and immigrants in France, citing incidents of racial slurs and police brutality.
Several countries, including Tunisia, called on France to do more to combat violence and racial discrimination.
“We advise France to scale up its efforts in combating crimes and violent threats motivated by religious hatred, such as anti-Semitism and hatred for Islam.”, said the US representative in the Council.
Brazil and Japan condemned racist behavior of French security forces, while South Africa called on Paris to take measures to ensure impartial investigations by non-police agencies into all racist incidents involving police officers.
Isabelle Rome, head of the French delegation and minister for women’s rights and gender equality, did not directly respond to the criticism, but described racism and anti-Semitism as “poison for the republic.”
Delegations of several countries, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark, pointed out the violence of the French police during security operations, especially in recent demonstrations.
Sabrin Ballim, a legal adviser at the French Ministry of the Interior, said that the “use of force” occurs “within a strict framework”, referring to the “punishment of offenders”.
He further claimed: The members of the security forces are required to wear badges with personal identification numbers so that their actions can be traced.
