UN Panel Condemns Racial Profiling and Excessive Force by French Police

This Committee denounced, in a press release issued on Friday, abuses such as "persistent racial profiling and excessive use of force" by the police, particularly against individuals of African and Arab origin. These actions have often resulted in repeated, disproportionate killings, with relative impunity, according to the Committee.

It also denounced the multiple facets of racial profiling in France, including excessive identity checks, discriminatory arrests and the use of racist language by law enforcement. These behaviors create "a climate of permanent tension" between the police and these groups, according to the international body. In addition, the Committee mentioned "structural discrimination" within the French police force, as well as the looting of private and public property and reports of mass arrests of protesters.

In the wake of Nahel’s death, a series of violent riots broke out across France, with direct confrontations between the police and protesters, and a wave of looting and burning of cars and trash cans in various cities. Following these events, the police officer who fired the shot was indicted for voluntary homicide and placed in pre-trial detention.