‘Yellow vests’ protest outside UN against French police violence 

Gilets jaunes protestors have pointed the finger at the widespread use of stun grenades and rubber bullets, which they claim are used badly against French demonstrators © Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Several hundred “yellow vest” (gilets jaunes) protestors from France gathered outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday to protest against police violence back home. 

Eight thousand were expected by the organisers, but in the end Swiss police said only 600 gilets jaunes demonstrators made the journey from France to Switzerland to denounce French police violence during recent street protests. 

“Our main goal is to show our support for all the gilets jaunes who have been injured or who have died since the beginning of the movement in France. Secondly, we want to denounce the police violence and repression and to challenge the Macron government’s lying discourse about the gilets jaunes,” the organiser, Nicolas Mollier from Albertville, told swissinfo.ch. 

The Geneva rally on the Place des Nations square opposite the UN’s European headquarters took place peacefully, with a low-profile Swiss police presence. 

On Wednesday morning, a small group of gilets jaunes also met UN officials in Geneva to share their concerns about French police violence. 

“We are calling for the UN’s help to make the French stop and to challenge the government about the violence, which it ignores,” said Mollier. 

Last week, an expert group from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced actions in FranceExternal link, which it said had “disproportionately curtailed” the right to protest during gilets jaunes protests. The three special rapporteurs said they had received serious allegations of excessive use of force and serious injuries.

Gilets Jaunes protest outside UN in Geneva against police violence in France pic.twitter.com/IB6BoRWqE1External link

— Simon Bradley (@sibradley1) February 20, 2019External link

Last weekend marked the three-month anniversary of the gilets jaunes movement in France. For the 14^th weekend in a row, thousands of demonstrators marched through city centres and clashed with police. 

The demonstrations began as a protest by motorists against rising costs, including the burden of a green fuel tax, but have since broadened into an anti-establishment, anti-President Macron movement with a range of concerns about France’s living standards and the economic stresses facing ordinary families. Meanwhile, radical elements on the extreme right and the extreme left have joined the crowds in hopes of bringing down the government.

Demonstrators and police have both reported an escalation in violence. Since November 17, 11 people linked to the gilets jaunes movement have died, mostly due to accidents at road blocks. But 1,700 gilets jaunes have also been injured – some seriously – during the protests, as well as 1,000 police officers.

Deaths and injuries 

Gilets jaunes protestors have pointed the finger at the widespread use of stun grenades and rubber bullets, which they claim are badly deployed against demonstrators, causing 20 people to lose an eye, as well as skull fractures and serious lacerations. 

Sandrine Perego from Lyon, France swissinfo.ch

“We have become like cattle, with the police and gendarmes shooting at us,” said Sandrine Perego, a car worker from Lyon. “Only UN can tell Macron that these are his people and that he should try and calm them down differently and not shoot at them.” 

Among its crowd control arsenal, French police use the GL06 launcher device, which is designed to fire non-lethal ordinance and is manufactured by the Swiss firm Brügger & Thomet (B&T). The Thun-based company recently defended itself against criticism, stating that injuries would have been avoided had French police used Swiss ordinance it also manufactures rather than the French-produced munitions. 

On November 17, the first day of the protests, an estimated 282,000 took part across France. But the number of demonstrators has since declined. Last weekend, the French Interior Ministry put the nationwide total at around 48,000 demonstrators. 

French President Emmanuel Macron launched a “great national debate” in January for the French to let off steam in public meetings and to try to disarm the gilets jaunes movement.