French police faces racism lawsuit - Gayo Lues

The men–at least two students, one worker in construction and another municipal councilor, said on Wednesday that they were stopped by French police for identity checks because of their race or origin, DPA reported.

Their lawyers Slim Ben Achour said “What they have in common is that they are all black or Arab or perceived as such and have been stopped by police in recent months.”

On Wednesday they issued a summons to Interior Minister Claude Gueant, as the minister responsible for the police, informing him they were seeking 10,000 Euros in damages.

The men were targeted “not because of what they do, because of what they are: ‘black’ or ‘Arab’, their lawyers and two organizations supporting the case – the Open Society Justice Initiative of billionaire philanthropist George Soros and a French collective that combats racial profiling – said in a statement.

“These checks often take place several times a week, even a day,” and are “generally carried out in conditions that are humiliating, degrading and persecutory,” the statement said.

US-based Human Rights Watch in a report published in January that drew on testimony from 100 men in Paris, Lille and Lyon, accused the police of “unwarranted” and “abusive” identity checks of black and Arab youths.

MSH/MFB/JR