French lawmakers are proposing an amendment to the Constitution that would allow judges to strip convicted terrorists who hold dual citizenship of their French citizenship. This proposal is one of several proposals (albeit, the most controversial of them all) made to combat terrorism in France in the aftermath of the November Paris attacks.
While the French public largely supports this measure, according to an interview by NPR with historian and political analyst Nicole Bacharan, the citizenship proposal is largely symbolic and will not affect the intended target group.
There is already room in the law to strip people of their citizenship, says Bacharan. Actual suicide bombers have no regard for their passport. Who this measure will affect in any real way are the North Africans. Moreover, NPR’s Renee Montagne adds that for the most part, the attackers were homegrown and therefore not dual nationals.
The French justice minister Christiane Taubira resigned in opposition to the proposal. Says the New York Times, some critics are even comparing the proposal to the actions of the Vichy regime, which collaborated with Germany during WWII and stripped French Jews of their citizenship, making them stateless and even more vulnerable. Moreover, civil libertarians (who are among those opposing the measure) and others are saying that the proposal is drawing attention away from other measures being considered that have far greater impact.
What are these other measures? First, the French government is seeking a three-month extension of the state of emergency, initially declared following the Paris attacks. This will allow French authorities to continue carrying out police raids and putting people under house arrest without the prior authorization of a judge.
Second, the French government is pushing for a bill that would increase the powers of the police and antiterrorism investigators. According to the New York Times, the bill, if passed, has heavy implications for what can and cannot be done in the name of counterterrorism:
“The bill…would let prosecutors order bag and vehicle searches near ‘sensitive’ sites and enable the police to hold people for up to four hours during an identity check if they were deemed suspicious, even if they produced documentation. It would also let officials place people trying to leave for, or returning from, ‘terrorist operating theaters’ like Syria and Iraq under house arrest for a month.”
Additionally, police would be allowed to use their firearms against someone who has committed or attempted murder and is likely to commit or attempt murder again within a short period of time. This is a significant change as police are currently only allowed to use their firearms against another person in the case of self-defense.
And third, Parliament is discussing another amendment to the Constitution that will set the conditions for declaring a state of emergency. While regular law already covers the necessary conditions, the government argues that including the conditions in the Constitution will prevent future governments from easily changing them.
Activist groups and others take issue with several of these measures as well.
Human Rights Watch contends that the French government has failed to provide compelling evidence that would justify the extension of the state of emergency. Law enforcement officials conducted more than 3,200 raids and placed between 350 and 400 people under house arrest. However, the counterterrorism unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office has opened only five terrorism-related investigations.
Evidence looking at those who have been targeted suggests that ethnic profiling may be taking place.
“The vast majority of those placed under house arrest or whose homes were searched are Muslims and persons of North African descent. All the measures that Human Rights Watch documented targeted Muslims, Muslim establishments, or halal restaurants.”
This burns bridges between French law enforcement officials and Muslim communities, which could have been valuable allies in detecting and informing on radical Islamic threats, says Human Rights Watch.
Thousands of people, including human rights groups, politicians, and unions marched in the French capital and other demonstrations around France in protest against the proposed extension of the state of emergency and citizenship proposal.
