Sat 01 July 2023:

France had a fourth night of riots on Saturday, with over 1,350 vehicles set on fire and a total of 2,560 fires on public roadways, according to the Interior Ministry.

The unrest was triggered by Tuesday’s fatal shooting of a 17-year-old driver by police during a traffic check in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

Violence flared in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse and Lille as well as parts of Paris, including the working class suburb of Nanterre, where Nahel M, who was of Algerian and Moroccan descent, was shot dead on Tuesday during a traffic stop.

In the southern city of Marseille, France’s second-largest, authorities banned public demonstrations set for Friday, said all public transport would stop at 7pm (17:00 GMT), and encouraged restaurants to close outdoor eating areas early.

A Paris public transportation source told broadcaster BFM TV that tram and bus services in the capital would end at 9pm (19:00 GMT) each day until further notice.

Across France, some 45,000 police officers were deployed on Friday night, including special units.

According to the authorities, 31 police stations were attacked.

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested overnight, despite the massive security presence and the closing of transport lines, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told reporters on Saturday morning.

Despite incidents of looting, vandalism and clashes with police, the violence was of “much less intensity” than the previous night, Darmanin said.

Macron appeals to parents

Speaking after chairing a crisis security meeting on Friday, the 45-year-old head of state said about a third of the people arrested over the rioting were “young or very young”.

“It’s the responsibility of parents to keep them at home,” he said. “It’s not the state’s job to act in their place.”

Appealing to social media firms, Macron said: “Platforms and networks are playing a major role in the events of recent days.”

“We’ve seen them – Snapchat, TikTok and several others – serve as places where violent gatherings have been organised, but there’s also a form of mimicry of the violence, which for some young people leads them to lose touch with reality.

“You get the impression that for some of them, they are experiencing on the street the video games that have intoxicated them,” he added.

‘Deep issues of racism’

In Geneva, the United Nations human rights office emphasised the importance of peaceful assembly and urged French authorities to ensure that use of force by police is legal, proportional and non-discriminatory.

“This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement,” spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.

Rights groups allege systemic racism inside law enforcement agencies in France, a charge Macron has denied. In 2020, his government promised “zero tolerance” of racism within law enforcement agencies.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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