Washington in support of the right to demonstrate in France? Asked about accusations of police brutality in France, a spokesperson for the White House said on Thursday that the American executive “supports the right to demonstrate peacefully there as everywhere else”.
“All this is only just beginning to be known,” he said, in response to a question about the criticisms expressed by certain organizations such as the Council of Europe.
“Sporadic acts of violence by some demonstrators or other reprehensible acts committed by others during a demonstration cannot justify the excessive use of force by agents of the State”, had recently affirmed the Commissioner for Human Rights of this organization, Dunja Mijatovic.
“A form of habit of violence sets in”
The question of the response of the police also arose following violence which occurred last weekend during a mobilization in the west of France against controversial water retention systems.
Emmanuel Macron estimated on Thursday that the thousands of demonstrators had “simply come to wage war”. “In some, a form of habit of violence sets in, it must be fought with great firmness,” he said.
The League of Human Rights has denounced “immoderate use” of force, and the organizers of the demonstration in the west of France have counted 200 injured, including a blinded person and two in a coma.