Paris: No to the State of Emergency!
This is a translation ( by Colin Falconer who blog here http://le-nouveau-poireau-rouge.blogspot.fr/ ) of the communiqué of my organization, Ensemble! concerning the State of Emergency in France.
Statement by Ensemble! (member of the Left Front, France)
No to the state of emergency!
The members of the National Assembly, including the group of Left Front members, have just (19 November 2015) voted for a 3-month extension of the State of Emergency.
For Ensemble ! (member of the Left Front), while we recognise that action must be taken to protect the population, the State of Emergency represents a grave threat to public freedoms and the right to demonstrate. Several demonstrations have already been banned : those against violence to women (21 November) and in solidarity with refugees (22 November) as well as the 29 November and 12 December mobilisations in connection with the COP 21. These measures are part of a process of a constant toughening of the law, along with a reduction in the resources allocated to the police and justice.
The State of Emergency implies a preeminence of administrative authority over that of the judicial system.
The current race to ‘law and order’ borrows from the policies advocated by the right-wing and far-right parties, and legitimises them.
One example is house arrest for persons suspected of being a threat to public order or whose behaviour or company suggest such a threat. This clearly permits all kinds of extensive interpretation and stigmatisation.
Other examples are the use of electronic bracelets for people placed under house arrest, deprivation of nationality and cancellation of return visas.
In parallel, the government has jumped on the opportunity to allow municipal police forces to be armed, and for off-duty officers to be authorised to carry their weapons.
For all these reasons, Ensemble ! condemns the prolongation of the State of Emergency pushed by F Hollande and his government, which is a foretaste of the proposed constitutional reform introducing a civil State of Crisis.
We do not need an authoritarian and securitarian reorganisation, but rather a social and democratic Republic, greater equality, social justice and freedom, which requires a struggle against unemployment and precariousness, and against all forms of racism and discrimination.
Statement by Ensemble! (member of the Left Front, France)
No to the state of emergency!
The members of the National Assembly, including the group of Left Front members, have just (19 November 2015) voted for a 3-month extension of the State of Emergency.
For Ensemble ! (member of the Left Front), while we recognise that action must be taken to protect the population, the State of Emergency represents a grave threat to public freedoms and the right to demonstrate. Several demonstrations have already been banned : those against violence to women (21 November) and in solidarity with refugees (22 November) as well as the 29 November and 12 December mobilisations in connection with the COP 21. These measures are part of a process of a constant toughening of the law, along with a reduction in the resources allocated to the police and justice.
The State of Emergency implies a preeminence of administrative authority over that of the judicial system.
The current race to ‘law and order’ borrows from the policies advocated by the right-wing and far-right parties, and legitimises them.
One example is house arrest for persons suspected of being a threat to public order or whose behaviour or company suggest such a threat. This clearly permits all kinds of extensive interpretation and stigmatisation.
Other examples are the use of electronic bracelets for people placed under house arrest, deprivation of nationality and cancellation of return visas.
In parallel, the government has jumped on the opportunity to allow municipal police forces to be armed, and for off-duty officers to be authorised to carry their weapons.
For all these reasons, Ensemble ! condemns the prolongation of the State of Emergency pushed by F Hollande and his government, which is a foretaste of the proposed constitutional reform introducing a civil State of Crisis.
We do not need an authoritarian and securitarian reorganisation, but rather a social and democratic Republic, greater equality, social justice and freedom, which requires a struggle against unemployment and precariousness, and against all forms of racism and discrimination.
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