In a recent meeting, the United Nations Human Rights Council criticized the violation of the rights of Muslims and immigrants in France, citing incidents of racial slurs and police brutality.

Several countries including the US, China, and Russia criticized the police violence amid demonstrations, calling on France to double down its efforts to combat violence and discrimination.

“We recommend that France expand efforts to counter crimes and threats of violence motivated by religious hatred such as antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate, including cases of harassment, vandalism, and assault.” said U.S. Representative Kelly Billingsley.

Brazil and Japan condemned racist behavior of French security forces, while South Africa called on Paris to take measures to ensure impartial investigations by non-police agencies into all racist incidents involving police officers.

Isabelle Rome, Head of the French Delegation and Minister for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, did not respond directly to every criticism but compared racism and anti-Semitism to “a poison for the Republic”.

Delegations of several countries, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark, pointed out the violence of the French police during security operations, especially in recent demonstrations.

Sabrine Balim, a judicial advisor with the French interior ministry, told the council the use of force was “strictly supervised, controlled, and in the case of erroneous use, sanctioned.” She also stressed that “France condemns any form of racial profiling”.

In addition, the French delegation recalled that members of the police force were obliged to wear an individual identification number “in order to ensure the visibility and traceability of their actions”.

Source: Shiawaves.com