Documenting violence

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Paris in recent days demanding the state scrap part of a proposed security bill that would criminalise the filming of police officers on duty. The outrage in the streets forced the government to announce that they would “rewrite” the relevant article of the draft legislation. What they really need to do, however, is to completely drop it.

Such videos not only expose individual acts of wrongdoing, which is important enough, but also reveal and initiate a debate about systemic racism in French society and state institutions. And this is an issue that needs more attention – more stories, videos, accountability – not less.

Just a few weeks ago, that type of footage exposed the brutal beating of a Black music producer, Michel Zecler, by police officers in Paris. The footage, released by Loopsider News, shows Zecler being kicked and punched for several minutes by three officers at his music studio. A fourth is later seen throwing a tear gas canister into the building.

The videos, captured by Zecler’s neighbours and taken from the CCTV cameras in the studio, end with him being forced out of the building at gunpoint. The incident reportedly began with a dispute over whether the 41-year-old producer was wearing a face mask, as required during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michel says, without these videos, his friends and family would have likely heard – and perhaps believed – the police version of the story: that Michel had been the one to attack, the one to start the violence. He would also probably be in prison. Thanks to these videos, however, Michel is a free man.

The new security bill, however, raises concerns that people publishing videos such as those that saved Michel Zecler may face criminal sanctions in the future.

Article 24 of the proposed legislation makes it a criminal offence, punishable by a year in prison and a fine of about 45,000 euros ($54,500), to publish images of on-duty police officers with the intent of harming their “physical or psychological integrity”.

Journalists and civil liberty groups have spoken out against the legislation, saying that its broad nature and the lack of clarity in its language would likely have a chilling effect on French people’s rights and freedoms.

On paper, the law appears to apply only to those who film officers with “malicious intent”. On the front lines of protests and during confrontations between members of the public and the police, however, police officers themselves will be the ones who determine the intentions of those filming, and whether they should be arrested and charged. This means the law would make it possible for officers to prevent any filming of their unlawful actions, and criminalise citizens who want to expose their violence and malpractice.

We do not yet know how the courts would interpret such a law, or what kind of a revision the government would make to its wording to calm the tensions. However, it is hard to imagine an amendment that would meaningfully address current criticisms. This legislation poses a serious threat to communities of colour.

Excerpted: ‘Documenting police violence is a form of resistance’

Aljazeera.com