Amnesty International Report 1994 - France

Hundreds of conscientious objectors to the national service laws were considered prisoners of conscience. There were numerous allegations of ill-treatment of detainees by police. There were reported shootings of unarmed people by police. In January the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, charged under the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment with examining the treatment of people deprived of their liberty, published its report on its visit to France in late 1991 and the government's response. It concluded that "a person deprived of his liberty by the forces of order runs a not inconsiderable risk of being ill-treated". Complaints were made of punching and slapping, blows to the head with telephone directories, psychological pressure, insults and deprivation of food and medicines. The Committee observed that foreigners and young people appeared to be a "preferred target". The Committee recommended strengthening the guarantees against ill-treatment through informing third parties of arrests, allowing lawyers access to people in police custody and improving doctors' conditions of access to detainees. In March a new Code of Penal Procedure came into force. This introduced, inter alia, radical improvements to the procedures governing police custody. Lawyers were granted access to detainees at stipulated points during police custody, depending on the suspected offence under investigation; detainees were given greater rights regarding medical examinations; and family or friends would be informed of the arrest. General elections were held in March; in September the new government introduced significant amendments reducing the effect of the March reforms. There was still no right to claim conscientious objector status during military service and the alternative civilian service available to recognized objectors remained twice the length of ordinary military service. Conscientious objectors refusing to conform to the national service laws continued to receive prison sentences. The vast majority were Jehovah's Witnesses. According to unofficial estimates, over 700 Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned during the year for refusing to perform military service. They had not applied for conscientious objector status because they also rejected, on religious grounds, the option of civilian service. Christophe Lascaray, from the Basque region, based his objection to military service on his anti-militarist and political beliefs. He did not apply for civilian service because, among other objections, he considered its length to be punitive. He was released in June after serving over seven months of a 13-month prison sentence. There were numerous allegations of ill-treatment of detainees by police throughout the year. Many of the most serious cases concerned members of ethnic minorities. In January Nzungu Nkanza, a Zairian, was arrested in Paris during an identity check. He alleged that the police handcuffed him, threw him to the ground and beat him unconscious. Nzungu Nkanza alleged that officers stamped and spat on him and racially insulted him in the police station. He received medical treatment in a hospital before being released without charge. Two cases of alleged ill-treatment by police in previous years were pursued in the courts. In May Amnesty International was informed that, following a judicial inquiry into the alleged ill-treatment of Lucien Djossouvi in Paris in 1989, two police inspectors and an investigating officer had been charged with acts of violence (see Amnesty International Reports 1990 to 1993). Four years after the original complaint had been lodged, the trial had still not opened. In May a court in Strasbourg convicted two police officers of injuring two motorists in a police station. Sukhder Parek, an Indian, and Veejayvan Jaganathan, a Mauritian, had been arrested for drunk driving in October 1991. They alleged that officers had punched and hit them with a metal ruler, causing head injuries and a perforated ear-drum to Veejayvan Jaganathan and a broken finger to Sukhder Parek. The officers received fines and suspended prison sentences of two months and one month respectively. There were reports of police shootings of unarmed people in circumstances indicating an excessive and illegal use of force. In April there were several killings by the police. Eric Simonté was shot in the head near Chambéry by an officer taking him into custody. He had reportedly been attempting to steal car tyres. Rachid Ardjouni, a 17-year-old of Algerian origin, was shot and fatally wounded by a police officer in Wattrelos. According to press reports, the officer, suspected of being drunk, was kneeling over Rachid Ardjouni, who was lying face downwards on the ground, when he shot him. Makomé M'bowole, a 17-year-old Zairian, was killed in a police station in Paris. An inspector shot him through the head while he was questioning him about a suspected petty theft. The inspector reportedly claimed that he had merely wished to intimidate him with the gun. Following the killing of Makomé M'bowole there were demonstrations, accompanied by civil disturbances, in Paris, the capital. Numerous allegations of ill-treatment by police were made. Philippe Gibes and Salim Hadjadj were arrested by four or five police officers in the vicinity of one of the demonstrations, but they claimed that they had not participated in it. Philippe Gibes alleged that he was handcuffed, punched, kicked and beaten with a truncheon. Salim Hadjadj stated that officers racially abused him and repeatedly hit him until he lost consciousness. In the police station they were both allegedly forced to kneel for one and a half hours, handcuffed and facing the wall. Salim Hadjadj was transferred to hospital for treatment. Yves Zaparucha, who had earlier taken part in a demonstration, was arrested by police officers on his way home. He alleged that he was beaten while on the ground and then repeatedly kicked, punched and hit with truncheons while being dragged to the police station. In the station he was handcuffed and made to kneel facing the wall. Yves Zaparucha was later transferred to another police station where he alleged that he was again hit and racially insulted before being admitted urgently to hospital. Judicial inquiries were opened into all the cases of alleged ill-treatment of detainees and the reported shootings of unarmed people by the police. Amnesty International continued to call for the release from prison of conscientious objectors whom it considered to be prisoners of conscience. Amnesty International considered that because of its punitive length, civilian service did not provide an acceptable alternative to military service. It also considered that individuals should be able to seek conscientious objector status at any time. Amnesty International sought information from the authorities about the progress of investigations into allegations of ill-treatment. In August the organization wrote to the Ministers of the Interior and Justice regarding its concerns over deaths in custody, shootings and allegations of ill-treatment by police. No replies had been received from the authorities by the end of the year. During a meeting with Amnesty International representatives in April, President François Mitterrand expressed his severe disapproval of reported violence in police stations.