Six NGOs, including Amnesty International, have launched collective actions against the French state to end “discriminatory identity checks” by the police. It is the first time that such collective action has been launched against the state.
NGOs give the government four months to provide “satisfactory answers.” If not, they will go to court. They follow the procedures outlined in a law voted in 2016.
“The organizations are taking this unprecedented initiative to end discriminatory identity checks, which are stigmatizing, insulting and insulting to all those who fall victim to it in France,” the NGOs said in a press release.
President Emmanuel Macron admitted in December that those who are not white in France are under greater police control. “People are seen as the cause of problems. This is untenable,” he said in an interview.
The six NGOs are targeting Prime Minister Jean Castex, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanen and Justice Minister Eric Dupond Moretti, who are responsible for police work. NGOs want to amend the criminal law. As a result, discrimination in identity checks should be explicitly prohibited, an effective and independent grievance mechanism must be established, and those examined must receive evidence of this.
Zes NGOs
De ngo’s in kwestie zijn Amnesty International France, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Justice Initiative, Community House for Solidarity Development (MCDS), Pazapas en Réseau-Égalité, Anti-discrimination, Multidisciplinary Justice (REAJI).
In November 2016, the Supreme Court indicted the French state for verifying identity based on appearance. This is not the first time that collective measures have been launched in France, but it has always been directed against private companies.
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