Serious human rights concerns ahead of Paris 2024 Olympics
By Abed Akbari
International
affairs expert
With less than a hundred days until the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics, serious concerns have been raised by human rights activists regarding widespread police violence and illegal actions against immigrants, especially French Muslims, in France.
The Paris Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11. In preparation for the event, an embellished façade has been constructed for Paris to cover up the harsh reality that many marginalized families from immigrant communities, mainly from French-speaking African countries such as Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Senegal, have been grappling with day in and day out.
Although Amnesty International condemned the continued erosion of human rights in France in 2023 in a recent report released a few weeks ago, the report has had no impact on the French government’s behavior, despite nearing the commencement of a major international event.
The organization expressed concerns about the future of human rights in France, stating that the use of hateful rhetoric has increased significantly in France over the past year. Jean-Claude Samouil, the head of Amnesty International France, recently pointed out the dire human rights situation in France as well, stating that human rights violations in the country are on the rise.
Many civil activists in France believe that the law that authorizes the use of artificial intelligence for the purposes of surveillance, which was presented by French officials as experimental and a guarantee of security during the organization of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, poses a risk of the excessive expansion of police powers. What raised some alarms in France is the increased use of surveillance equipment and the possibility that these tools may be there to stay long after the games have ended.
In its report, Amnesty International also highlighted sporadic violence and indiscriminate beatings against demonstrators who gathered legally to show support for Palestinians or protest against policies such as pension law reforms. The report emphasized that the French authorities have abused law enforcement in suppressing these protests.
In October, the French interior minister ordered local authorities to prohibit any pro-Palestinian demonstrations. What is equally a cause for serious concern is that the French police seemingly refrain from restricting racist and inflammatory speeches against Muslims in France. These confirm that Paris is systematically discriminating against certain groups.