UN experts sound alarm at excessive use of force in French student protests

UN experts have condemned police crackdowns, warning they deter demonstrators from exercising their rights.

A police officer wearing riot gear stands in front of a burning barricade during a demonstration near Place de la Republique, in Paris, on October 17, 2026 [Carl Court/Getty Images]

United Nations experts have expressed alarm at the “excessive use of force” by French authorities in dispersing the recent nationwide student protests.

“The scale of the arrests and detention, affecting several thousand people, mainly minors, appears disproportionate and deters demonstrators from exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” the four experts, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, said in a statement on Wednesday.

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They included Gina Romero, special rapporteur on the freedom of peaceful assembly, and Farida Shaheed, the UN expert on cultural rights.

“Although authorities launched several initiatives to facilitate dialogue and respond to students’ demands in October, the priority given to a primarily security-focused response to the protests has led to the root causes of the mobilisation being sidelined,” the statement said.

France has seen ongoing student protests since mid-September, sparked initially over conditions in high schools, where young people complained about the deteriorating buildings, overcrowded classrooms and teacher absences. Students have also joined nationwide demonstrations to express anger over the rising cost of living, which led to riots and looting on the sidelines.

The French government deployed 70,000 security forces and arrested 1,000 people during demonstrations on Saturday, which drew 410,000 protesters nationwide, France’s Interior Ministry said. A week earlier, public buildings were vandalised, hundreds of businesses were looted and 2,700 people were arrested, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez vowing to be “extremely vigilant, extremely firm” to quell future unrest.

“What we are seeing right now is a general outburst of resentment against [French President Emmanuel] Macron and his policies that have destroyed our rights, destroyed our living conditions,” Alice Cohen-Morzadec, a spokesperson for the Union Etudiante, told Al Jazeera .

Analysts say the French government has struggled to address students’ demands due to a severe fiscal crisis and planned budget cuts, which have led to a drop in the country’s education budget.

Riot mobile gendarmes face protesters near Porte de Vincennes during a demonstration in Paris on October 24, 2026, as part of a nationwide call for mobilisation bringing together former members of the Yellow Vest movement, labour unions, high school and university students [AFP]

Police response to protests

French authorities have been criticised for their approach to security during some of the protests, and in one case a teenager in the northern city of Lille lost a hand when a grenade exploded as school protesters clashed with police.

“The serious and, in some cases, irreversible injuries sustained by underage demonstrators during law enforcement operations are unacceptable and unjustifiable,” the UN rapporteurs said.

The statement added: “The experts recalled past discussions urging French authorities to undertake a comprehensive review of their policing strategies and practices in order to enable demonstrators to express their concerns and to facilitate a peaceful resolution of social conflicts.”

“The experts are in contact with French authorities on the issue,” the statement concluded.

联合国专家谴责警方镇压行动，并警告称这些行动会阻碍示威者行使自身权利。

2026年10月17日，在巴黎共和国广场附近的一次示威活动中，一名身穿防暴装备的警察站在燃烧的路障前。[Carl Court/Getty Images]

联合国专家对法国当局在驱散近期全国范围内的学生抗议活动中“过度使用武力”表示震惊。

“逮捕和拘留的规模如此之大，影响到数千人，其中大部分是未成年人，这似乎不成比例，并阻碍了示威者行使言论自由和和平集会的权利，”联合国人权理事会授权的四位专家周三在一份声明中表示。

问题 1（共 3 题）：为什么法国难以满足学生的要求？

列表 2/3：法国政府躲在“骚乱”叙事背后

列表 3/3：玛丽娜·勒庞誓言法国“复兴”，极右翼觊觎权力中心

其中包括和平集会自由问题特别报告员吉娜·罗梅罗和联合国文化权利专家法里达·沙希德。

声明称：“尽管当局在10月份推出了一系列举措，以促进对话并回应学生的要求，但优先考虑以安全为重点的应对措施导致抗议活动的根本原因被忽视了。”

自9月中旬以来，法国学生抗议活动持续不断。最初的导火索是高中的教学条件，学生们抱怨校舍破败、教室拥挤、教师缺勤等问题。此外，学生们还参与了全国范围内的示威游行，表达对生活成本上涨的不满，这引发了部分示威活动边缘的骚乱和抢劫事件。

法国政府部署了7万名安全部队人员，并在周六的示威活动中逮捕了1000人。法国内政部表示，当天全国共有41万名抗议者参与示威。一周前，公共建筑遭到破坏，数百家商铺被洗劫一空，2700人被捕。内政部长洛朗·努内兹誓言将“保持高度警惕，采取极其强硬的措施”来平息未来的动乱。

“我们现在看到的是对（法国总统埃马纽埃尔·）马克龙及其政策的普遍不满，这些政策摧毁了我们的权利，摧毁了我们的生活条件，”学生联盟发言人爱丽丝·科恩-莫扎德克告诉半岛电视台。

分析人士表示，由于严重的财政危机和计划中的预算削减，法国政府难以满足学生的要求，导致该国教育预算下降。

2026年10月24日，在巴黎文森门附近，防暴机动宪兵与示威者对峙。此次示威活动是全国动员的一部分，参与者包括“黄背心”运动的前成员、工会成员、高中生和大学生。[法新社]

警方对示威活动的应对

法国当局因在一些抗议活动中采取的安全措施而受到批评，其中一起事件中，在北部城市里尔，一名青少年在学校抗议者与警察发生冲突时，一枚手榴弹爆炸，导致他失去了一只手。

联合国报告员表示：“执法行动中，未成年示威者遭受的严重伤害，在某些情况下甚至是不可逆转的伤害，是不可接受的，也是不合理的。”

声明还补充道：“专家们回顾了过去的讨论，敦促法国当局对其警务战略和做法进行全面审查，以便让示威者能够表达他们的诉求，并促进社会冲突的和平解决。”

声明最后表示：“专家们正在就此事与法国当局进行沟通。”