Is France Being Anti-Terror or Anti-Muslim?

After 130 people died in the Paris attacks in 2015, France declared a nationwide state of emergency in which stricter security provisions were implemented with the aim of preventing future terrorist attacks. Although the state of emergency was only supposed to be for a few months, subsequent terror attacks led the French government to extend the state of emergency six times. Finally, on November 1st, 2017, President Emmanuel Macron ended the two-year long state of emergency and replaced it with a strong security law. Although the state of emergency is over, many critics have argued that the new security law makes many parts of the state of emergency permanent and will trample on civil liberties. In particular, this is especially concerning for France’s Muslim populations, who were disproportionately targeted under the state of emergency and will continue to be oppressed by the new law.

France’s state of emergency dates back to the country’s colonial period, specifically the Algerian Revolution in the 50’s and 60’s. At the time, France wanted to curb the bloody revolution going on in Algeria and argued that “it required additional powers to safeguard the nation, including the power, as it turned out, to sanction torture by the military” (Zaretsky 2016). Although the circumstances are different now, nonetheless, under a state of emergency, more powers are granted to police forces and the state to do the most they can to protect their citizens and in turn, some civil liberties are given up for the greater security of a nation. Under the most recent state of emergency, it “grants the government powers to shut down demonstrations, impose curfews, confiscate weapons, and put people under house arrest” without a warrant, and eavesdrop on calls, among numerous other provisions (Zaretsky 2016). Unfortunately, it is often Muslims, especially those of Arab and African descent, that are disproportionately targeted by these measures. In a 2016 Human Rights Watch report, all of the cases of police raids they documented were “Muslims, Muslim establishment, and halal restaurants” (France: Abuses under State of Emergency). According to the Interior ministry, since the State of Emergency went into force, it has prevented 32 terror attacks, 13 in 2017 alone (Nordstrom 2017). It has failed in some instances nonetheless, as 239 people have been killed in Islamic-related terrorist attacks over the past two years (Nordstrom). On top of that, of the 4,457 house raids that took place under the state of emergency, only 23 ended up being taken to trial. In particular, the capital of France is the main target for Islamic terrorists in Western Europe, as it has seen now 12 major terrorist attacks since 2012 (Telegraph, 2017).

On November 1, 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron replaced the two year state of emergency with a new anti-terrorism law (Vinocour, 2017). This controversial law aims to coordinate the actions of both domestic and foreign intelligence agencies by bulking up security, with daytime military patrols in major cities, and establishing a new anti-terrorism task force directly under Macron’s authority. The law also permits the restriction of the flow of people if they are considered to be a security threat and expands the areas for checkpoints. This law, hopefully will prevent slip-ups, such as their failure to prevent the three attacks carried out in 2012 by Mohammed Merah, an Islamist militant (Donadio, 2017).  In a recent poll by Le Figaro newspaper, 57% of the French public backs the new law, although 62% believes it to be a restriction of basic freedoms (DW, 2017). Critics argue that the law will be used to persecute minorities with impunity because the new measures allow security services to “shut places of worship deemed to be fostering extremism,” confine the movements of terror suspects, and search the homes of terror suspects without warrants (DW, 2017).  In addition to the concern expressed by the French citizens, UN experts warned that the new anti-terrorism bill had a “vague definition of terrorism”, which exacerbated concern that “emergency powers could be used in an arbitrary way” (Chrisafis, 2017).

The anti-terrorism law comes into effect as an effort by President Macron to remain strong and appear forceful in light of the events over the past years. However, the law’s extension of many of the strict security measures of the state of emergency, which have persisted since November 2017, are controversial to many human rights groups, some even considering it to be rather draconian in nature (“France approves tough new anti-terror laws” 2017). By granting local authorities the power to search homes and arrest people without a warrant, racial profiling will continue to persist and many innocent Muslims will fall victim to these raids. As France is adjusting to a new presidency with Emmanuel Macron, the reminisce of the “country that practiced religious and ethnic profiling on an industrial scale against suspected terrorist sympathizers” (Vinocour) under former President Hollande, who served during the spike in terror attacks between 2012-2017, remains.

Muslim immigrants and refugees in France are in a sensitive place in the nation, as many are there seeking refuge from conflict in their home states, but are also being openly targeted by the nation’s police and political forces. As opposed to Marine Le Pen, an explicitly Islamophobic and xenophobic candidate, Macron promised to be more tolerant of France’s Muslim population. However, given how discriminatory these emergency powers have been in the past, the new law will allow Muslim communities to remain targeted and profiled. These practices undeniably have a profound impact on Muslim communities in France, as they feel that France hates them and that they do not belong there. Furthermore, these policies have counterproductive consequences – as reported by the Human Rights Watch, “this abuse has traumatized families and tarnished reputations, leaving targets feeling like second-class citizens” (Human Rights Watch, 2016). Such treatment has been shown to breed greater distrust in law enforcement and hinder positive relations between Muslim communities and local law enforcement from being formed, which creates a sense of ‘otherism’, further alienating French Muslims from non-Muslims, and “undermining cooperation between Muslim communities and law enforcement efforts that could assist in identifying local terrorism threats based on radical Islam” (Human Rights Watch, 2016).  

While it is important for France to work to protect their citizens, this law will simply perpetuate the conditions of the state of emergency and fails to uphold civil liberties. In particular, France’s Muslim communities will continue to face discriminatory raids and arrests. The question must be asked: is this controversial law, which effectively targets Muslims living in France, beneficial in protecting the nation against terrorist attacks?

References:

Chrisafis, Angelique. “Macron’s counter-terror bill risks France’s human rights record, say UN experts.” (2017, Sept 28). Retrieved November 19, 2017 from, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/28/macrons-counter-terror-bill-risks-frances-human-rights-record-says-un

Donadio, Rachel. “A Terrorist’s Brother- and France- on Trial” (2017, Nov 4). Retrieved November 18 2017 from,  https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/11/abdelkader-merah-toulouse-terrorist-brother-trial-france/544961/

DW. “French President Emmanuel Macron signs controversial anti-terror law” (2017, Oct 30). Retrieved November 19 2017 from, http://www.dw.com/en/french-president-emmanuel-macron-signs-controversial-anti-terror-law/a-41178081

“France approves tough new anti-terror laws” (2017, October 04). Retrieved November 20, 2017,

from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41493707

France's state of emergency laws explained in 90 seconds. (2015, November 19). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-34852916/france-s-state-of-emergency-laws-explained-in-90-seconds

“France: Abuses Under State of Emergency.” Human Rights Watch, 4 Feb. 2016. Retrieved November 19 2017 from, www.hrw.org/news/2016/02/03/france-abuses-under-state-emergency.

Local, T. (2017, October 31). This is what happened during France's state of emergency. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.thelocal.fr/20171031/what-exactly-happened-during-frances-state-of-emergency

Rubin , A. J., & Peltier, E. (2017, October 03). French Parliament Advances a Sweeping Counterterrorism Bill. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/world/europe/france-terrorism-law.html

Vinocour, Nicholas. “New French anti-terror law to replace 2-year state of emergency” (2017, Oct 31). Retrieved November 17 2017 from,

https://www.politico.eu/article/new-french-anti-terror-law-to-replace-2-year-state-of-emergency/

Zaretsky, R. (2016, July 16). France's Perpetual State of Emergency. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/16/frances-perpetual-state-of-emergency/