Amnesty International, on Thursday, spoke out on the killing of Nael M., who was shot dead by a French police officer during a traffic stop at the end of June in Nanterre. This incident serves to underline the urgent need for a reform of the rules governing the use of firearms by police officers, which are dangerously imprecise and overly permissible.
Nils Muižnieks, the European Regional Director, commented: “The fatal shooting of Nael M. by a police officer casts a harsh light on the pressing necessity for comprehensive reform of the French rules that dictate the use of firearms by law enforcement officials, which are dangerously ambiguous and overly permissible.”
Muižnieks further added, “The authorities must also adopt significant measures to combat systemic racism prevalent in the law enforcement in France.”
In 2022, France recorded 13 deaths resulting from non-compliance during roadside checks. The death of 17-year-old Nael M. on June 27th in Nanterre sent shockwaves through the community and reignited the debate about the conditions under which the police use their weapons.
A law amended in February 2017 altered the conditions under which the police could open fire. Until that point, these were subject to the penal law and the principle of self-defense, just like any citizen.
Article 435-1 of the Internal Security Code (CSI) now permits them to open fire in case of non-compliance, and if they cannot stop a vehicle without resorting to a weapon, and if the driver is “likely to commit (…) attacks on their life or physical safety and the life of others.”
Amnesty International concluded, “The killing of Nael M. is a tragic example of the flaws in the expanded phrasing present in Article L.435-1. The publicly available video footage of this killing clearly shows that the advancing car posed no threat to the police officers, as they were positioned beside the car, not in front of it.”
