2024 WARSAW HUMAN DIMENSION CONFERENCE

France Institutional torture

Soruce: OSCE

Warsaw, 30 September to 11 October 2024

Institutional torture can take many forms, and one particularly insidious manifestation is when control and ideology take precedence over  human dignity[i]. The case of the French police’s treatment of Romanian yoga practitioners is a stark example of this.

https://freedomofconscience.eu/2024-warsaw-human-dimension-conference-france-institutional-torture/

A report submitted by Human Rights Without Frontiers to this Conference details how the French police, driven by an ideological distortion regarding spiritual minorities, conducted a disproportionate and violent raid on the homes of these Yoga practitioners. The practitioners were then subjected to inhumane detention conditions, biased interrogations, and a complete disregard for their rights and due process. This was not physical torture, but a systemic, institutional abuse conveyed through inappropriate decisions and repeated, applied actions.

A Swiss University report has highlighted the anti-religious bias of the French agency MIVILUDES, which has significant influence over the government’s approach to religious minorities. This bias has led to the targeting and persecution of groups like the yoga practitioners, with the police acting as the enforcement arm of this ideological distortion[ii].

We call on France to urgently review its approach to religious minorities, and to ensure that the training and practices of its police and judiciary are aligned with the principles of human rights and the rule of law. Only then can we truly prevent the institutional torture of vulnerable groups in the name of misguided ideology.

Coordination des Association et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience spokes person says the following: 

"We have serious concerns regarding France's adherence to international standards of freedom of religion and belief. Indeed, it appears that the French model of secularism has permitted into the nation's judicial and police institutions, leading to the troubling phenomenon of unfair trials in cases linked to religious or spiritual movements. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which France is a signatory, clearly stipulates the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. However, the reports from many international institutions and NGOS highlight the French government's funding and support of anti-religious associations, which directly contravenes these fundamental principles. Furthermore, the critique of the MIVILUDES agency by a Swiss University report, casts a troubling light on the opaque methodologies and imprecise data employed in the guise of "deradicalization." This has resulted in the marginalization and stigmatization of various religious and spiritual communities, denying them their rightful place in French society. We call on the French government to review its policies and practices towards the religious minorities to ensure compliance with its obligations under international human rights treaties. The protection of freedom of conscience and belief for all must be a paramount concern, in order to ensure the independence of the justice and to ensure a fair trial for all the French citizen regardless of their belief."