Protesters march through Nantes with a puppet dressed as a judge wearing a police officer's cap, during a demonstration against the state of emergency on February 20, 2016. Niglaut Kevin/Press Association. All rights reserved.Like an addict, France does not know how to quit its state of emergency even though it has become clear that maintaining it erodes the rule of law and fosters human rights abuses while not keeping the country safer. The February 22 report by the parliamentary commission tasked with monitoring the state of emergency provided yet another reminder that it no longer serves any meaningful purpose.
The commission president, Dominique Raimbourg, from the governing Socialist Party, noted that activity under the state of emergency has been “greatly reduced” since the last extension. His fellow commission member, Jean-Frédéric Poisson, from the main opposition party Les Republicains, noted that “time that passes erodes the efficiency and nature of the state of emergency.” A French commission of inquiry into the Paris attacks had already concluded back in July 2016 that the state of emergency had “limited impact” on improving security and any effect it may have had “quickly dissipated.”
Human Rights Watch’s own research has found repeated abuses against ordinary people during policing operations under emergency powers.
