France's student-protest policing faces scrutiny as 24 cases probed

Why it matters

France's student protest movement has entered its third week, and police tactics used to suppress it are now under national scrutiny. According to Reuters reporting on October 10, the internal police watchdog IGPN is investigating 24 cases connected to the handling of the unrest.

One case involves 14-year-old Eden (surname withheld at the family's request): last week in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, a Paris suburb, he was sitting on a wall looking at his phone, metres from a protest site, when an officer struck him with a baton. A second officer then fired a tear gas canister from a Cougar launcher at close range, shattering his jaw and several teeth. The family's lawyer says the officer left him on the ground without calling emergency services. The family has filed a complaint alleging attempted murder, and the officer was placed under formal investigation on Tuesday on suspicion of assault by a public official resulting in permanent disability or disfigurement.

In another case in Argenteuil, also in the Paris suburbs, a 16-year-old pupil was hit in the left eye on his way home and may be permanently blinded. Prosecutors say police claim the teenager "seemed to correspond" to one of two young people who directed fireworks at officers, who responded with rubber bullets. A video viewed by Reuters showed the boy bleeding from his eye.

Human rights advocates, including Amnesty International, and some politicians are calling for "less lethal" weapons such as rubber bullets to be banned permanently; police unions say officers need them to enforce order. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described the demonstrations as the most violent in decades.