France to allow local curfews

International Herald Tribune | NOVEMBER 8, 2005
By Thomas Crampton

PARIS Rioting in France claimed its first fatality on Monday, and the French government, facing growing criticism for its inability to stop the unrest, said it would send additional police officers to troubled communities and permit local authorities to impose mandatory curfews.

"The state will be firm and just," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said in a televised address. "Communities can, under authority of the Interior Ministry, invoke curfews if they believe it will restore calm and protect residents."

While Villepin said the government planned to address root causes of the violence by increasing opportunities for young people, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of restoring order.

"In a republic, there are rights and responsibilities," Villepin said. "The law must be respected."

Villepin ruled out army intervention in an interview with France's TF1 television, saying "We are not at that point." But he said 1,500 police officers would join 8,000 already deployed in the troubled areas.

His address came as the authorities braced for a 12th night of turmoil. The first signs of violence emerged by sundown as local officials in the southern city of Toulouse said rioters had set fire to a bus and then pelted police officers with gasoline bombs and rocks.

The mayor of Raincy, a suburb to the northeast of Paris, was the first to announce a curfew that it said would help "avoid a tragedy" in his town following the worst night of violence to date.

President Jacques Chirac, in private comments that were more conciliatory than his warnings Sunday that rioters would be caught and punished, acknowledged French failings with integration, President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia said after meeting Monday with the French leader.

She said Chirac deplored the "ghettoization of youths of African or North African origin" and recognized "the incapacity of French society to fully accept them," according to reports by news agencies.

France "has not done everything possible for these youths, supported them so they feel understood, heard and respected," Chirac said, adding that unemployment runs as high as 40 percent in some suburbs, four times the national rate, according to Vike-Freiberga.

Nearly a dozen riot police officers were wounded by gunshots overnight Sunday as youths burned 1,408 cars in 274 towns in the worst urban unrest faced by France in nearly 40 years.

A 61-year-old man beaten last week into a coma by a hooded youth died on Monday, becoming the first fatality of the violence that has gripped the impoverished immigrant suburbs that lie outside cities across France.

The victim was identified as Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec, who died after being beaten by an attacker.

The man, a retired auto industry worker, was trying to extinguish a trash can fire Friday at his housing project in the northeastern suburb of Stains when an attacker caught him by surprise and beat him into a coma, the police said.

The unrest started after the accidental deaths by electrocution two weeks ago of two youths from a housing project who hid in an electricity substation to avoid an identity check by the police.

The police arrested 395 people across the country overnight Sunday, Michel Gaudin, chief of the French national police, said at a press conference in Paris on Monday.

Youths firing fine-grain birdshot in the southern Paris suburb of Grigny wounded 10 riot police officers overnight on Sunday.

Two of the police officers were hospitalized, but their lives were not in danger, the police said. While there had been earlier reports of rioters firing weapons, the injuries on Sunday marked the first time that police officers had been wounded by weapons since the riots began.

There have been 77 police officers and 31 firefighters injured since the unrest began.

Another serious injury took place last week when a 56-year-old handicapped woman was unable to get off a bus that was doused with gasoline and set on fire in the northern Paris suburb of Sevran. She was hospitalized with severe burns.

A female reporter for the South Korean television station KBS TV was beaten unconscious over the weekend, Agence France-Presse reported. She was taken to a hospital after being set upon by a gang in the northern suburb of Aubervilliers late Saturday and was to be released Sunday.

"We were assaulted by a group of four or five people aged 25 to 30 who demanded money," the cameraman said. "Two were really aggressive. I was carrying the camera at the time, and they hit me in the face, stunning me for two or three minutes."

The Korean reporter then threw herself forward, yelling and trying to protect the camera, he said.

"One of the two kicked her brutally and she was taken to hospital unconscious," the cameraman said.

Police officials have expressed extreme concern at the persistence of the violence and the way in which it has hopscotched to immigrant communities across the nation.

"We are witnessing a sort of shock wave that is spreading across the country," Gaudin said, noting that the violence appeared to be sliding away from Paris and worsening elsewhere in France.

Violence overnight Sunday struck Toulouse, Metz and several parts of northern France. The total number of cars burned in arson attacks in Paris and its suburbs fell to 426 from 741 the night before.

Two churches were damaged, one in Sète in southern France and the other in Lens in the north, said Patrick Hamon, a police spokesman.

Faced with the inability of the police to stop the persistent violence, municipalities have been forced to improvise ways to limit damage.

"We have started turning on every light in every one of our schools, colleges and municipal buildings," said Benoît Hamon, a city council member in Bretigny-sur-Orge and a member of the European Parliament. "This seems to have worked for us, because nothing happened to the municipal facilities overnight on Sunday.

Hamon said that while cars had been burned overnight Sunday in the community, his attention was entirely focused on protecting public buildings.

Since the riots began, the municipality has had fires in two schools, the town hall and in a municipal activities room. Evidence of a further fire was found at a school Monday morning, but an initial inspection suggested that the attempt to burn the building took place on an earlier night.

Should the violence continue, the image of France will suffer along with economy, the leader of the French employers' federation warned on Monday.

Speaking on the Europe 1 radio station, Laurence Parisot emphasized the importance of regaining control of the situation as soon as possible.

"Make no mistake on the order of priorities, on what is the top priority, it is the restoration of public order," Parisot said, adding that companies were ready to work at giving opportunities to youths within immigrant communities.

PARIS Rioting in France claimed its first fatality on Monday, and the French government, facing growing criticism for its inability to stop the unrest, said it would send additional police officers to troubled communities and permit local authorities to impose mandatory curfews.

"The state will be firm and just," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said in a televised address. "Communities can, under authority of the Interior Ministry, invoke curfews if they believe it will restore calm and protect residents."

While Villepin said the government planned to address root causes of the violence by increasing opportunities for young people, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of restoring order.

"In a republic, there are rights and responsibilities," Villepin said. "The law must be respected."

Villepin ruled out army intervention in an interview with France's TF1 television, saying "We are not at that point." But he said 1,500 police officers would join 8,000 already deployed in the troubled areas.

His address came as the authorities braced for a 12th night of turmoil. The first signs of violence emerged by sundown as local officials in the southern city of Toulouse said rioters had set fire to a bus and then pelted police officers with gasoline bombs and rocks.

The mayor of Raincy, a suburb to the northeast of Paris, was the first to announce a curfew that it said would help "avoid a tragedy" in his town following the worst night of violence to date.

President Jacques Chirac, in private comments that were more conciliatory than his warnings Sunday that rioters would be caught and punished, acknowledged French failings with integration, President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia said after meeting Monday with the French leader.

She said Chirac deplored the "ghettoization of youths of African or North African origin" and recognized "the incapacity of French society to fully accept them," according to reports by news agencies.

France "has not done everything possible for these youths, supported them so they feel understood, heard and respected," Chirac said, adding that unemployment runs as high as 40 percent in some suburbs, four times the national rate, according to Vike-Freiberga.

Nearly a dozen riot police officers were wounded by gunshots overnight Sunday as youths burned 1,408 cars in 274 towns in the worst urban unrest faced by France in nearly 40 years.

A 61-year-old man beaten last week into a coma by a hooded youth died on Monday, becoming the first fatality of the violence that has gripped the impoverished immigrant suburbs that lie outside cities across France.

The victim was identified as Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec, who died after being beaten by an attacker.

The man, a retired auto industry worker, was trying to extinguish a trash can fire Friday at his housing project in the northeastern suburb of Stains when an attacker caught him by surprise and beat him into a coma, the police said.

The unrest started after the accidental deaths by electrocution two weeks ago of two youths from a housing project who hid in an electricity substation to avoid an identity check by the police.

The police arrested 395 people across the country overnight Sunday, Michel Gaudin, chief of the French national police, said at a press conference in Paris on Monday.

Youths firing fine-grain birdshot in the southern Paris suburb of Grigny wounded 10 riot police officers overnight on Sunday.

Two of the police officers were hospitalized, but their lives were not in danger, the police said. While there had been earlier reports of rioters firing weapons, the injuries on Sunday marked the first time that police officers had been wounded by weapons since the riots began.

There have been 77 police officers and 31 firefighters injured since the unrest began.

Another serious injury took place last week when a 56-year-old handicapped woman was unable to get off a bus that was doused with gasoline and set on fire in the northern Paris suburb of Sevran. She was hospitalized with severe burns.

A female reporter for the South Korean television station KBS TV was beaten unconscious over the weekend, Agence France-Presse reported. She was taken to a hospital after being set upon by a gang in the northern suburb of Aubervilliers late Saturday and was to be released Sunday.

"We were assaulted by a group of four or five people aged 25 to 30 who demanded money," the cameraman said. "Two were really aggressive. I was carrying the camera at the time, and they hit me in the face, stunning me for two or three minutes."

The Korean reporter then threw herself forward, yelling and trying to protect the camera, he said.

"One of the two kicked her brutally and she was taken to hospital unconscious," the cameraman said.

Police officials have expressed extreme concern at the persistence of the violence and the way in which it has hopscotched to immigrant communities across the nation.

"We are witnessing a sort of shock wave that is spreading across the country," Gaudin said, noting that the violence appeared to be sliding away from Paris and worsening elsewhere in France.

Violence overnight Sunday struck Toulouse, Metz and several parts of northern France. The total number of cars burned in arson attacks in Paris and its suburbs fell to 426 from 741 the night before.

Two churches were damaged, one in Sète in southern France and the other in Lens in the north, said Patrick Hamon, a police spokesman.

Faced with the inability of the police to stop the persistent violence, municipalities have been forced to improvise ways to limit damage.

"We have started turning on every light in every one of our schools, colleges and municipal buildings," said Benoît Hamon, a city council member in Bretigny-sur-Orge and a member of the European Parliament. "This seems to have worked for us, because nothing happened to the municipal facilities overnight on Sunday."

Hamon said that while cars had been burned overnight Sunday in the community, his attention was entirely focused on protecting public buildings.

Since the riots began, the municipality has had fires in two schools, the town hall and in a municipal activities room. Evidence of a further fire was found at a school Monday morning, but an initial inspection suggested that the attempt to burn the building took place on an earlier night.

Should the violence continue, the image of France will suffer along with economy, the leader of the French employers' federation warned on Monday.

Speaking on the Europe 1 radio station, Laurence Parisot emphasized the importance of regaining control of the situation as soon as possible.

"Make no mistake on the order of priorities, on what is the top priority, it is the restoration of public order," Parisot said, adding that companies were ready to work at giving opportunities to youths within immigrant communities.

Last modified November 8, 2005