A timely message after the reshuffle: in a decision addressed to the new Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, the Defender of Rights insists on the " urgency " to change the maintenance of order, in particular by prohibiting the LBD and the port of the hood at the police. Jacques Toubon, who leaves this independent authority in a week after six years at the helm, seems to want to make his voice heard until the end. In this framework decision, consulted by AFP, the Defender of Rights updates his recommendations for maintaining order, in the light of the almost 200 complaints he received during the movement of " yellow vests ".
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The former minister of Jacques Chirac underlines " the urgency (...) so that the reflections on these topics succeed ", whereas Christophe Castaner left Beauvau without publishing the national diagram of the maintenance of order promised to draw the lessons of the social movement, marked by great violence. With this decision, sent to " be attached to the definition " of this diagram, Mr. Toubon takes up a good number of recommendations already formulated by the institution since early 2018 and his report dedicated to the doctrine of maintaining order in France , who proposed to revolutionize police practices.
Prohibition of LBD
The Defender of Rights thus still demands a ban on the use of defense ball launchers (LBD) in demonstrations, a weapon accused of causing serious injuries such as being beaten. He also recommends putting an end to " traps ", this technique of " enclosure " used by the police to surround the demonstrators, and to stop " delocalized identity checks ", which consist in arresting a person in the demonstration to then control it on the sidelines of the parade, sometimes in a police station.
These practices lead to “ depriving people without liberty of a legal framework ”, summarizes the Defender. The institution also questions the " legal framework " of " preventive arrests " carried out during demonstrations of " yellow vests ".
Often " motivated by the possession of objects " such as eye masks, swimming goggles or simple yellow vests, which " represent no danger ", they can " deprive an individual of his right to demonstrate ", she believes. She also asked that the " legal framework " allowing the police to confiscate objects " be clarified ".
Identify the police
The Defender also calls for measures to " guarantee the identification of the police " and protests against the " plainclothes police " who wear " full-face helmets " or " hoods ". Practices adopted " outside of any legal or regulatory framework ", recalls the institution, which notes " a form of acceptance, of tolerance on the part of the police hierarchy " on this subject.
" The confidence that the population must have in their police rests on the transparency of their action, " she believes, judging " hardly admissible " that complaints be closed because an official is not identified. Mr. Toubon finally recommends that the police force grant " special vigilance " to journalists and association observers, to enable them to carry out their missions during the demonstrations, and to " increased vigilance " regarding the proportionate use of force when the demonstrators are minors.
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Place Beauvau, where Gérald Darmanin has just been appointed, has two months to respond to this advisory document. During the handover on Tuesday, Castaner said the new national policing plan, which was originally scheduled to be released in January, was " available " to the new minister. It must " place mediation and the reduction of the conflict at the very heart of the management of public order ", he promised.
Mr. Darmanin must carry out this work in a delicate context, while the resurgence of the debate on " police violence ", a term refuted by the executive, has pushed his predecessor to announce the end of the teaching of a method the so-called " key to bottleneck ", angering the police. During his first speech as Minister of the Interior, he assured the police on Tuesday of his "total support".
