‘My son was killed’ France faces backlash over proposed police firearms law

Paris, France – Issam El Khalfaoui’s teenage lad Souhail was changeable and killed by a constabulary serviceman successful 2021 successful Marseille.

“When my lad was killed during a constabulary postulation stop, we realised however hard it was to bring the information to light. The constabulary and the justness strategy took antithetic actions to screen up the evidence. We realised that this was a profoundly systemic issue,” El Khalfaoui told Al Jazeera. “The IGPN [National Police] mislaid the video that captured my son’s murder. The witnesses were not interviewed, and the lawsuit record wholly disappeared from the court. That is the reality.”

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France has one of the highest numbers of fatal constabulary shootings successful Western Europe. At slightest 69 radical were killed by constabulary oregon gendarmerie officers successful 2024, compared with 49 successful 2023 and 50 successful 2022.

Now, French constabulary are again facing scrutiny, this clip implicit their tactics during clashes successful acquisition protests. A 15-year-old mislaid a manus from a police stun grenade, and different serviceman threw a teardrop state canister astatine adjacent range, shattering a 14-year-old’s jaw and respective teeth. The usage of stun grenades has since been halted. Authorities accidental 700 constabulary person besides been injured.

The unrest comes arsenic a arguable measure that would presume constabulary officers acted successful self-defence erstwhile utilizing firearms faces a ballot successful the Senate.

Khalfaoui launched a petition against the draught instrumentality that received much than 700,000 signatures. The measure, which critics picture arsenic a “licence to kill”, was approved by the National Assembly successful July.

A demonstrator is treated with beverage aft vulnerability to teardrop state during nationwide protests successful Paris, France, October 8, 2026, to request amended schoolhouse conditions [Pedro Nunes/Reuters]

Several advocacy groups, including Stop State Violence (SAVE), the Human Rights League (LDH) and Amnesty International, arsenic good arsenic left-wing lawmakers, organised protests successful Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, which drew astir 50,000 radical connected September 20.

Under the projected law, constabulary officers and gendarmes would beryllium presumed to person acted successful self-defence if they utilized weapons successful the enactment of duty, placing the load of impervious connected the complainant.

For El Khalfaoui, who co-founded SAVE aft his 19-year-old son’s death, passing the instrumentality would lone summation the police’s strength.

“In France, determination has been a seizure of powerfulness by constabulary unions,” El Khalfaoui said. “There’s a militarisation of the constabulary that has nary equivalent successful Europe, and resources person been allocated to the constabulary to guarantee the police’s loyalty to the government.”

A protester amid teardrop state during nationwide protests successful Paris, France, October 8, 2026, to request amended schoolhouse conditions [Pedro Nunes/Reuters]

The draught instrumentality could entrench a consciousness of impunity, El Khalfaoui noted.

“It volition beryllium intolerable to refute this presumption of self-defence,” helium said.

Bruno Bartocetti, a determination typical for the constabulary union, told French quality transmission BFMTV the El Khalfaoui lawsuit was an enactment of “self-defence beyond immoderate doubt” and said Souhail wanted to “start a fight”.

The judicial lawsuit was closed successful December 2021, but reopened erstwhile the family’s lawyer filed a ailment for “obstruction of the find of truth” aft surveillance camera videos disappeared. A caller justice was appointed successful 2025, and the court’s probe is ongoing.

‘Draft instrumentality enables constabulary impunity’

Nathalie Tehio, president of France’s Human Rights League (LDH), besides fears the measure “enables constabulary impunity”.

“If there’s nary probe anymore, that means the constabulary serviceman tin nary longer beryllium held liable for anything,” she told Al Jazeera. “France is simply a European person successful the fig of radical killed by the police.”

French riot constabulary serviceman fires a crowd-control limb during a objection by French precocious schoolhouse and assemblage students successful Lyon, France, October 6, 2026 [Denis Balibouse/Reuters]

A 2017 instrumentality permitting constabulary officers to wield firearms if a conveyance does not comply with a postulation halt has led to 5 times arsenic galore fatal shootings, according to researchers. At the time, the instrumentality had wide governmental support, though respective left-wing politicians person opposed the caller draught measure and participated successful protests.

“All parliamentary groups voted successful favour of this instrumentality successful 2017 by a precise ample majority. There was enactment crossed the governmental spectrum, from the near to the close and the far-right,” Sebastien Roche, a researcher astatine France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), specialising successful constabulary and democracy, told Al Jazeera.

After legislative elections successful 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron’s enactment was incapable to signifier an implicit bulk to walk authorities without entering a conjugation with different parties.

“Successive governments nether Emmanuel Macron, particularly during his 2nd term, person adopted ideas from the acold right,” Roche said.

With France’s statesmanlike elections successful six months, governmental parties are vying for electors, Roche noted.

“The contention is already nether way, and successful this competition, the close is trying to triumph implicit far-right voters due to the fact that the close successful France has mislaid a large woody of its governmental spot to the far-right successful nationalist and European elections,” helium said.

French riot constabulary apprehend a protester during clashes extracurricular the Lycee Deodat-de-Severac precocious schoolhouse arsenic portion of nationwide protests to request the hiring of substitute teachers, accrued resources and amended learning conditions, successful Toulouse, France, October 2, 2026 [Nacho Doce/Reuters]

When a constabulary serviceman changeable and killed 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, a lad of Algerian descent, successful 2023, riots dispersed crossed the country.

Discrimination leads to much postulation stops, said Roche, and yet radical of colour are astatine much hazard of violence.

“The mode the constabulary show people’s behaviour is unfavourable to non-white people,” helium said, citing studies helium conducted successful Bouches-du-Rhone successful the Marseille region. “The probability of being stopped (by the police) is much than 50 percent higher for radical who are not white.”

In 2001, Omer Mas Capitolin was successful a enactment gathering erstwhile a disturbance from a constabulary involution connected the thoroughfare extracurricular shook the building. Mas Capitolin went downstairs to inquire the officers to move, but the constabulary entered the relation and handcuffed Mas Capitolin.

“They utilized a chokehold and pinned maine to the ground. I couldn’t respire oregon speak,” Mas Capitolin told Al Jazeera.

Protestors enactment successful a nationalist march against projected authorities regarding constabulary usage of firearms successful Paris, France, 20 September 2026. The instrumentality nether information would present a presumption of lawful usage of firearms by instrumentality enforcement erstwhile they discharge their firearms. The measure was approved connected July 7, 2026 successful the French National Assembly and has precocious to the Senate for information [Firas Abdullah/EPA]

He aboriginal founded the Community House for Supportive Development (MCDS), a grassroots non-profit against constabulary unit and discrimination. In 2021, six NGOs, including MCDS filed a people enactment suit against the French government, alleging systemic radical favoritism successful constabulary individuality checks.

“We tin telephone these individuality checks discriminatory, on with everything that goes with them, including the refusal to comply, contempt of authority, resistance, and, progressively today, the contented of amerciable and excessive fines imposed connected young people,” Mas Capitolin said.

In October, 2023, France’s precocious tribunal recognised radical profiling during constabulary individuality checks, a ruling described by Human Rights Watch (HRW) arsenic “historic”. But the tribunal did not bid French authorities to instrumentality the “necessary measures to extremity this long-standing, abusive practice” arsenic it handed down the verdict successful the lawsuit filed by the six groups, HRW said.

Also successful 2021, the French authorities was condemned for “gross negligence” successful an individuality cheque of 3 precocious schoolhouse students successful Saint-Denis, northbound of Paris. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights condemned France for radical profiling of Karim Touil.

Despite these rulings, “everything is moving successful the other direction”, Mas Capitolin said. “France is dealing with kids utilizing military-grade weapons. Police officers are over-equipped and over-armed. I’m devastated.”

A protestor holds his hands up successful beforehand of riot police, arsenic French precocious schoolhouse and assemblage students be a objection successful Nantes, portion of a nationwide time of protests and blockades to request amended schoolhouse conditions successful France, October 8, 2026 [Stephane Mahe/Reuters]