France protests: Why racism and police brutality angles did not escape people's minds

Tensions across France sparked by the deadly police shooting of a French Algerian teenager appear to have eased after six nights, offering some relief to President Emmanuel Macron's government, which has been struggling to regain control of the situation that is costing him heavy political price.

Long after the streets of the French capital and other cities are cleared of the smouldering debris from the fiery protests, however, questions are likely to remain as to how France failed for decades to address the root cause of racism and police brutality that have left several of the country's Muslim minorities either injured, or worse, dead.

On Saturday, 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk was laid to rest in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, four days after he was killed on Tuesday by a police officer during a traffic stop. But the latest deadly incident will likely haunt Macron and the wider French society for months and years to come.

And with Paris hosting the Rugby World Cup this fall as well as the Summer Olympics in July and August of 2024, the issue is expected to remain in the spotlight, although it is still unclear how the government could effectively address the problem, short of deploying tens of thousands of security forces across major cities and barricading the country's streets.

Following another night of protests, the French interior ministry reported that 157 people were arrested, down from over 700 arrests the night before after Nahel Merzouk's funeral, and over 1,300 on Friday night.

Citing initial data, the ministry also said that three of the 45,000 police officers deployed overnight were injured, while around 350 buildings and 300 vehicles were damaged. The home of the mayor of a Paris suburb was also reportedly attacked while his wife and children were asleep inside on Saturday.

As the violence continued, the grandmother of the slain, Nahel Merzouk, appealed on Sunday for calm.

“We don’t want them to destroy shops, buses, and schools,” she was quoted by news reports as saying.

“They are using Nahel as an excuse. We want things to calm down.”

More than just a political crisis for Macron

The killing of Nahel Merzouk exposed severe racial tensions in France that is also rooted in anti-Muslim hatred as well as the country's colonial past.

For Macron, the issue on racism, police brutality as well as Islamophobia present a much bigger challenge for the French society itself.

Nahel's killing also comes at a time when the top French court has ruled in favour of a hijab ban in women's football, fueling anger among the country's Muslim minority.

Race was a taboo topic for decades in France, which is officially committed to a doctrine of colorblind universalism. But critics say that doctrine has masked generations of systemic racism, and now growing hostility towards the country's Muslim minority as well.

Islam is the second biggest religion in France, which has the biggest Muslim minority in Western Europe, and for years tensions have built up over what critics described as anti-Muslim policies and sentiments.

The deadly shooting of Nahel Merzouk, for instance was the third of its kind this year, down from a record 13 people who were killed after not complying with a traffic stop in 2022, according to a Reuters analysis of data.

There were three such killings in 2021 and two in 2020, none in 2019 and 6 in both 2018 and 2017, according to the tally, which shows the majority of victims since 2017 were Black or of Arab origin.

In 1997, a 16-year-old named Abdelkadher Bouziane was also shot and killed by police while his 19-year-old companion was wounded igniting riots in the Dammarie-les-Lys suburb of Paris. The next year, two days of riots also erupted after the shooting of 17-year-old Hahib Muahmmed during an alleged car theft.

In November 2005, then-President Jacques Chirac was forced to declare a state of emergency following three weeks of riots in several suburbs of Paris over the electrocution deaths of two Muslim youths.

As to the latest killing of Nahel Merzouk, the officer, who shot him has been charged preliminarily of voluntary homicide, meaning that investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing, but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial. Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude that the officer’s use of his weapon wasn’t legally justified.

The defence lawyer of the police officer, however, denied that the killing was intentional, adding that his client only fired the shot in order to prevent the driver from fleeing.

France's colonial history

That the slain teenager was of Algerian ancestry did not escape people's minds.

France is the former colonial master of Algeria, which fought for its independence from 1954 to 1962.

According to some estimates, over a million Algerians were killed fighting for independence.

As recently as January 2023, Macron has refused to seek Algeria's "forgiveness" for France's brutal rule of the North African country.

“It’s not up to me to ask forgiveness, that’s not what this is about, that word would break all of our ties,” he said in an interview for Le Point magazine, following his 2022 trip to Algeria.

Following the latest violent protests, the UN Human Rights office issued a statement calling on France to "deep issues" of racism in policing.

“This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement”, the UN agency's spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said.

"We call on the authorities to ensure use of force by police to address violent elements in demonstrations always respects the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, non-discrimination, precaution and accountability.

She also called for any allegations of disproportionate use of force by people exercising their rights to protest, to be swiftly investigated.

Back in Nanterre, in the west of Paris, flowers and other tributes mark the spot where Nahel Merzouk. was shot almost a week ago. Graffiti calls for revenge and criticises the police.

On a public square in Nanterre, a young man of Senegalese descent said France would learn little from the latest unrest. Faiez Njai said of police: “They’re playing on our fears, saying that ‘If you don’t listen to us,’” — and then he pointed a finger at his temple and fired.

At the foot of a bridge near the Eiffel Tower where generations of couples have attached padlocks to symbolize lasting love, a Senegalese man selling cheap locks and keys shook his head when asked if Nahel’s killing and the ensuing violence would change anything.

“I doubt it,” he said, giving only his first name, Demba, for fear of retaliation. “The discrimination is too profound.”