Simple new skid of Gérald Darmanin or real threat for the organizations of defense of the fundamental freedoms? Questioned Wednesday evening in the Senate on his management of the maintenance of order during the last demonstrations, the Minister of the Interior spoke about the League of Human Rights (LDH) and its funding: “I do not know the subsidies given by the State but (…) I think it deserves to be looked at in the context of the actions they have been able to carry out. »
A barely disguised threat from the “first cop in France” against an association which observes and reports acts of violence committed by the authorities, particularly during demonstrations. Its role is to guarantee the respect of fundamental freedoms and the application of human rights. So, for Eugénie Mérieau, lecturer in public law at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and author of Dictatorship, an antithesis of democracy? (Blue Rider) contacted by 20 Minutes, this sentence “is very worrying for our freedoms. »
An embarrassing speech for the Minister of the Interior
This is far from the first time that an exit from Gérald Darmanin has caused an uproar. The Minister of the Interior who “chokes” when he hears about police violence and condemns “intellectual terrorism” does not seem to accept any criticism of his management of law enforcement and the police in general. However, the League of Human Rights puts a spoke in the wheel of the discourse held by the Interior, recently with regard to the violence in Sainte-Soline which ended with two people in a coma, on the protesters’ side. “On this subject, he aligns the untruths concerning us”, thus interprets Patrick Baudouin, the president of the LDH, questioned by Release. The LDH, for example, denounced the delay in helping the seriously injured, which the Minister of the Interior denied. The association also regularly denounces police violence during demonstrations or “preventive arrests. Embarrassed by this counter-speech, Gérald Darmanin therefore seems to threaten the association’s subsidies.
The LDH participates in the defense of the freedom to demonstrate, in these times of protest against the pension reform, by appealing to the administrative judge to have bans on assembly annulled. “The judge also often gives him reason”, points out Eugénie Mérieau. At the same time, Gérald Darmanin and the entire government denounce “illegal” demonstrations, but “they are not”, insists Eugénie Mérieau.
The LDH itself responded to the Minister of the Interior on social networks, emphasizing that “”the actions that have been carried out” by the LDH for more than 120 years are the defense of the rights and freedoms of all, whether you like it, in particular the defense of the freedom to demonstrate undermined by your policing policy. »
An essential role in guaranteeing the rule of law
The LDH “is a safeguard, it is the main association for the defense of human rights, it contributes to the vitality of our system of the rule of law”, recalls Eugénie Mérieau. “It is an association that is very recognized internationally and very important for ensuring respect for human rights, it is its job to criticize the authorities and it is the same in all countries”, adds Anne-Sophie Simpere, co-author of How does the state attack our freedoms? (Plon), contacted by 20 Minutes.
For the lecturer in public law, “the government is thus in the process of taking an illiberal turn, it is questioning the major laws of the Third Republic and showing a desire to tackle any form of dispute, it is an attack on civil society. This is very worrying for the state of our freedoms in France. »
France would even be in the process of switching towards more control of civil society. “Since the Third Republic, we have been in a declaration regime. At the moment, we are switching to an authorization regime, we have to go before the judge to challenge a ban on demonstrations! “, still protests Eugénie Mérieau denouncing a “rapprochement with illiberal regimes like Russia, Hungary or Israel…”
Sliding of the law on separatism
“What is a state that does not tolerate being criticized by a human rights organization? It is a real threat against our democracy in a context of accumulation of attacks against associations, ”warns Anne-Sophie Simpere again. This small sentence of great magnitude “refers to the consequences of the separatism law”, she analyzes. In 2021, this “law confirming respect for the principles of the Republic” was adopted with the aim of “strengthening secularism” following the assassination of Samuel Paty.
It provides for a Republican Commitment Contract (CER) for associations subsidized by the State or any administrative authority, in which it is particularly indicated “the prohibition to undertake or incite any action manifestly contrary to the law, violent or likely to cause serious disturbances to public order. Broad notions that have already been used against other associations, such as the citizen civil disobedience movement Alternatiba, which however has nothing to do with radical Islam.
“Since the latest security laws, such as this separatism law, we have called into question the right of association”, warns Eugénie Mérieau. And the threat is real: “The Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) was the first to be dissolved after short sentences from Gérald Darmanin”, recalls the lecturer in public law. A drift that even goes back, according to her, since the state of emergency.