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France faces ‘litmus test’ for freedom of expression as dozens arrested in wake of attacks
A string of at least 69 arrests in France this week on the vague charge of “defending terrorism” (“l’apologie du terrorisme”) risks violating freedom of expression, Amnesty International said.
All the arrests appear to be on the basis of statements made in the aftermath of the deadly attacks against the magazine Charlie Hebdo, a kosher supermarket and security forces in Paris on 7 and 9 January.
“In a week in which world leaders and millions around the world have spoken out in defence of freedom of expression, the French authorities must be careful not to violate this right themselves,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.
“How the French authorities act in the aftermath of the horrific killings is the litmus test for its commitment to human rights for all.”
The arrests and prosecutions are the first to be carried out under the new November 2014 counterterrorism law. They are based on a criminal code article under which “inciting” or “defending” terrorism carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of EUR 45,000, and up to seven years and a EUR 100,000 fine if it involved posting something online.
While “incitement” and “defence of terrorism” were already offences in France, the November 2014 law moved them from the press law to the criminal code. This means the process can be fast-tracked by the authorities, which has happened in several of this week’s cases.
Besides the highly publicized case of comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, examples of cases include a man shouting in the street “I am proud to be a Muslim, I do not like Charlie, they were right to do that”, as well as an intoxicated man who, upon his arrest for drunk driving, allegedly told the police “there should be more Kouachi; I hope you will be next.”
Another case involves a 21-year-old who was caught without a ticket on a tram, and subsequently sentenced to 10 months in prison for allegedly saying, “The Kouachi brothers is just the beginning; I should have been with them to kill more people.”
A number of cases have already been prosecuted and led to convictions under an expedited procedure.
The arrests, investigations and convictions follow a circular issued on Monday 12 January in which Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira instructed prosecutors that “words or wrongdoing, hatred or contempt, uttered or committed against someone because of their religion must be fought and pursued with great vigour”.
Governments have an obligation under international human rights law to prohibit advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. But vaguely-defined offences such as “defence of terrorism” risk criminalizing statements or other forms of expression which, while undoubtedly offensive to many, fall well short of inciting others to violence or discrimination.
International treaties on the prevention of terrorism require criminalization of incitement to commit a terrorist offence. However, there is a risk that notions such as "defence of terrorism” will be used to criminalize statements made without the necessary element of intent and the direct and immediate likelihood that they would prompt such violence.
Some of the recently reported cases in France may cross the high threshold of expression that can legitimately be prosecuted. Others, however offensive the statements made, do not.
“Freedom of expression does not have favourites. Now is not the time for knee-jerk prosecutions, but measured responses that protect lives and respect the rights of all,” said John Dalhuisen.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/france-faces-%E2%80%98litmus-test-for-freedom-of-expression-as-dozens-arrested-in-wake-of-attacks
“In a week in which world leaders and millions around the world have spoken out in defence of freedom of expression, the French authorities must be careful not to violate this right themselves,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.
“How the French authorities act in the aftermath of the horrific killings is the litmus test for its commitment to human rights for all.”
The arrests and prosecutions are the first to be carried out under the new November 2014 counterterrorism law. They are based on a criminal code article under which “inciting” or “defending” terrorism carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of EUR 45,000, and up to seven years and a EUR 100,000 fine if it involved posting something online.
While “incitement” and “defence of terrorism” were already offences in France, the November 2014 law moved them from the press law to the criminal code. This means the process can be fast-tracked by the authorities, which has happened in several of this week’s cases.
Besides the highly publicized case of comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, examples of cases include a man shouting in the street “I am proud to be a Muslim, I do not like Charlie, they were right to do that”, as well as an intoxicated man who, upon his arrest for drunk driving, allegedly told the police “there should be more Kouachi; I hope you will be next.”
Another case involves a 21-year-old who was caught without a ticket on a tram, and subsequently sentenced to 10 months in prison for allegedly saying, “The Kouachi brothers is just the beginning; I should have been with them to kill more people.”
A number of cases have already been prosecuted and led to convictions under an expedited procedure.
The arrests, investigations and convictions follow a circular issued on Monday 12 January in which Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira instructed prosecutors that “words or wrongdoing, hatred or contempt, uttered or committed against someone because of their religion must be fought and pursued with great vigour”.
Governments have an obligation under international human rights law to prohibit advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. But vaguely-defined offences such as “defence of terrorism” risk criminalizing statements or other forms of expression which, while undoubtedly offensive to many, fall well short of inciting others to violence or discrimination.
International treaties on the prevention of terrorism require criminalization of incitement to commit a terrorist offence. However, there is a risk that notions such as "defence of terrorism” will be used to criminalize statements made without the necessary element of intent and the direct and immediate likelihood that they would prompt such violence.
Some of the recently reported cases in France may cross the high threshold of expression that can legitimately be prosecuted. Others, however offensive the statements made, do not.
“Freedom of expression does not have favourites. Now is not the time for knee-jerk prosecutions, but measured responses that protect lives and respect the rights of all,” said John Dalhuisen.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/france-faces-%E2%80%98litmus-test-for-freedom-of-expression-as-dozens-arrested-in-wake-of-attacks
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The French are being applauded in this country for their tough stance on terror, and their use of 10,000 regular troops for security duties. This has led to a discussion with members of Congress about changing federal law to allow the regular US military to be assigned to domestic policing, supplementing civilian law enforcement. If the law was changed, reports are troops would be used to suppress violent anti police protests.
Listen now:
Turkish president, Erdogan, accuses 'the West' of being behind Charlie Hebdo attacks: former US White House presidential advisers Paul Craig Roberts says Paris attacks are false flag to bring France back into line; Israeli journalist filmed attack; Netanyahu asked not to come to Paris but became centre of attention; oil pipe line from Russia to Turkey; western intelligence services, NATO; Jihadi training camp in Ardennes. Interview with Jill Goulding, who found some secret WW2 documents of her grandfathers' in her mother's attic:
also...
WWII COPP commando training unit on Hayling Island near Chichester in Hampshire; John Ainsworth-Davis, aka. Christopher Creighton, author of 'OPJB', was trained by him, were both part of secret operations and were lied to; putting the record straight over the world war two 3,500 Canadian casualties at Dieppe – Wednesday 19th August 1942, did the German's know Canadians were coming?
Dieppe, 1942: 3,500 Canadians sacrificed as cover for MI6 agent JAD who later grabbed Nazis' looted billions?
Why was my war hero grandfather written out of history? Jill Goulding discovered an attaché case in her Hampshire loft which contained a host of secret wartime documents confirming her grandfather Harold Goulding had been the commanding officer of the Royal Navy's elite Special Boat Unit (SBU). So why did he die just months after the war, why was his DSO not recognised on his gravestone and elsewhere, and why did one of the commandos he trained at COPP headquarters, John Ainsworth-Davis, say it was lucky Harold died so soon after the war because he wouldn't have wanted to know 'we'd been lied to'. Was that lie the secret 'Operation James Bond' mission that took place in April 1945, just before the end of World War Two, to snatch Hitler's treasurer, Martin Bormann, from under the noses of the Russians so he could begin the work of running an underground Fourth Reich? The COPP commandos that took part in that top secret MI6 mission were told they were extracting Bormann, codename 'Piglet', so that the Nazis looted billions could be redistributed and returned to its rightful owners across Europe, but that was Churchill's man of mystery Desmond Morton's big lie. A body double who'd had dental surgery, of Bormann was taken on the mission and once Bormann had been identified and rescued the double was killed and left behind as 'Bormann's body. Only Morton, Ian Fleming, King George VI and Winston Churchill knew the real plan was to get Bormann out of Berlin, via Britain, to South America where he could safely begin the bureaucratic job of creating 750 or so new corporations around the world into which the laundered billions could be injected and former SS supporters in suits would be placed on the various boards. This is detailed in two books which I respectfully ask you to read and distribute 1. 'Op JB, the last great secret of world war two' by Christopher Crieghton (John Aisworth Davis was using a pen name still nervouis about the official secrets act) 2. 'Martin Bormann Nazi in Exile' by wartime CBS news correspondent Paul Manning. Jill met John Ainsworth-Davis - aka. Christopher Creighton, author of 'Op JB, the Last Great Secret of World War Two', who told her that Harold would have been upset that they were lied to about secret missions they were sent on at the end of the war. So how and why did Harold die and why has his memory been expunged from history? Anyone that knew Commander Harold Goulding, R.N. D.S.O. please contact his grand-daughter Jill
also...
WWII COPP commando training unit on Hayling Island near Chichester in Hampshire; John Ainsworth-Davis, aka. Christopher Creighton, author of 'OPJB', was trained by him, were both part of secret operations and were lied to; putting the record straight over the world war two 3,500 Canadian casualties at Dieppe – Wednesday 19th August 1942, did the German's know Canadians were coming?
Dieppe, 1942: 3,500 Canadians sacrificed as cover for MI6 agent JAD who later grabbed Nazis' looted billions?
Why was my war hero grandfather written out of history? Jill Goulding discovered an attaché case in her Hampshire loft which contained a host of secret wartime documents confirming her grandfather Harold Goulding had been the commanding officer of the Royal Navy's elite Special Boat Unit (SBU). So why did he die just months after the war, why was his DSO not recognised on his gravestone and elsewhere, and why did one of the commandos he trained at COPP headquarters, John Ainsworth-Davis, say it was lucky Harold died so soon after the war because he wouldn't have wanted to know 'we'd been lied to'. Was that lie the secret 'Operation James Bond' mission that took place in April 1945, just before the end of World War Two, to snatch Hitler's treasurer, Martin Bormann, from under the noses of the Russians so he could begin the work of running an underground Fourth Reich? The COPP commandos that took part in that top secret MI6 mission were told they were extracting Bormann, codename 'Piglet', so that the Nazis looted billions could be redistributed and returned to its rightful owners across Europe, but that was Churchill's man of mystery Desmond Morton's big lie. A body double who'd had dental surgery, of Bormann was taken on the mission and once Bormann had been identified and rescued the double was killed and left behind as 'Bormann's body. Only Morton, Ian Fleming, King George VI and Winston Churchill knew the real plan was to get Bormann out of Berlin, via Britain, to South America where he could safely begin the bureaucratic job of creating 750 or so new corporations around the world into which the laundered billions could be injected and former SS supporters in suits would be placed on the various boards. This is detailed in two books which I respectfully ask you to read and distribute 1. 'Op JB, the last great secret of world war two' by Christopher Crieghton (John Aisworth Davis was using a pen name still nervouis about the official secrets act) 2. 'Martin Bormann Nazi in Exile' by wartime CBS news correspondent Paul Manning. Jill met John Ainsworth-Davis - aka. Christopher Creighton, author of 'Op JB, the Last Great Secret of World War Two', who told her that Harold would have been upset that they were lied to about secret missions they were sent on at the end of the war. So how and why did Harold die and why has his memory been expunged from history? Anyone that knew Commander Harold Goulding, R.N. D.S.O. please contact his grand-daughter Jill
For more information:
https://politicsthisweek.wordpress.com/201...
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