Euro Watchdog Investigates Yellow Vest Protest Policing ‘Human Rights Issues’

Macron
CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty Images
Oliver JJ Lane

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has travelled to Paris to speak with the French government about the Yellow Vest protests after footage and images of the government’s heavy-handed attempts to break the protests flashed around the world.

Council of Europe commissioner Dunja Mijatovic revealed the move Monday morning when she wrote that she was on her way to Paris to discuss “Human rights issues related to the Yellow Vests movement” with the French interior minister and police representatives, among others.

The Associated Press reported that Mijatovic will also meet with representatives of France’s human rights commission, police, and journalists.

While Mijatovic has made no comment on what will be discussed in the meetings or what triggered the trip other than “human rights issues”, her trip follows 11 weeks of intense protests against the globalist government of President Emmanuel Macron which have seen unprecedented levels of force deployed by the French state in response.

Amnesty International condemned the level of police violence used against the Yellow Vests in December.

Breitbart London reported this month on allegations that French riot police had started deploying dozens of officers armed with live ammunition rifles to the protests. Activist Giles Caron said of the deployment: “Their job was simply to threaten us with lethal weapons in a manner which is very troubling. We deserve some explanations.”

Just weeks later, a prominent Yellow Vest organiser was seriously injured after being allegedly shot in the eye by officers. French police are investigating the incident among unproven claims the man was deliberately targeted during the protest.

Among the serious violence between protesters and riot police with some 80,000 officers deployed this past weekend, French doctors have said the number of serious injuries inflicted on protestors has reached unprecedented levels.

Around 2,000 Yellow Vests and 1,000 police officers have been hurt. Doctors have particularly highlighted the use of “flash ball” ammunition by the authorities, which has led to some of the most serious injuries so far.

One doctor said of the number of protesters being shot in the head by anti-riot ammunition: “The head is still something very fragile. At the level of the face, projectiles at high velocity can only cause damage.

“Whether it’s voluntary or a sign of incompetence, that’s a problem.”

“I have been working in this sector since the 1980s and this is the first time I have seen so many serious injuries during a social movement,” he added.

Among the most controversial police deployments of the protests is that of military-style armoured personnel carriers on the streets of Paris, first seen in December and now a regular feature of security arrangements around Yellow Vest protests. T

he emergence of the vehicles caused headlines after the blue-painted hulls were seen to be sporting the flag of the European Union rather than the French tricolour.

Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook

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