French Presidential Election 2017
Cet espace s’adresse à tous les électeurs et électrices français, ainsi qu’à celles et ceux qui suivent de près cette échéance électorale majeure. Notre objectif est d’interpeller les candidats à l’élection présidentielle française sur les questions liées aux droits humains en France et dans le monde et de faire connaître au public leurs positions et propositions. Les sujets relatifs aux droits fondamentaux sont quasiment absents de la campagne alors qu’ils sont essentiels pour le futur du pays, tant en termes de politique nationale que de diplomatie. En les mettant en lumière, nous espérons contribuer à éclairer les électeurs et électrices sur ces questions majeures et à les faire exister dans le débat public.
France: Presidential Run-Off Offers Choice on Rights
(Paris, May 1, 2017)—A comparison of the positions of the two remaining candidates for France’s presidency (see chart below) shows that they take significantly different positions on human rights at home and abroad, Human Rights Watch said today.
“Looking closely at the positions and statements of Le Pen and Macron indicates they would take very different approaches to human rights as president of France,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, France director at Human Rights Watch. “We believe it is important for voters to consider both candidates’ positions on key human rights issues, so they can be aware of the impact the candidates’ positions will have on human rights and use that information when they cast their votes on May 7."
Human Rights Watch sent a questionnaire to all the candidates in the first round seeking responses to a range of human rights issues. The comparison is based on the responses of Emmanuel Macron to those questions and other public statements, and on public statements by Marine Le Pen on the same issues. Le Pen did not reply to the Human Rights Watch questionnaire.
The comparison looks at the position of the candidates on: police identity checks; the state of emergency and counterterrorism in France; access to asylum; the role of the EU in human rights; human rights in relations with the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and China; the situation in Syria; French military intervention in Africa; and the fight against impunity for international crimes.
Identity checks and ethnic profiling |
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Human Rights Watch Position
To fight ethnic profiling, Human Rights Watch recommends police officers in France be required to issue a receipt every time they carry out an identity check to explain its legal basis and establish a written record.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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State of emergency and counterterrorism |
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Human Rights Watch position
The indefinite extension of the state of emergency is a danger to the rule of law and the protection of fundamental freedoms. Human rights should be fully respected in all security and counterterrorism measures.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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Asylum |
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Human Rights Watch position
France should uphold its international obligations to protect refugees fleeing violence and persecution and should show greater leadership within the European Union in that respect. The human rights of all asylum seekers on French territory should be protected. Strengthening the protection of unaccompanied migrant children, who are particularly vulnerable, should be a priority.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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European Union |
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Human Rights Watch position
The European Union should live up to its founding values of respect for human rights, in a context of skepticism toward European institutions and the rise of extreme nationalism. Human rights should be a priority of European diplomacy and internal policy, in particular regarding migration policy.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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United States |
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Human Rights Watch position
France’s bilateral and multilateral relations with the United States should always make the respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law a priority. President Trump has taken steps that cause concerns for the protection of human rights in the United States and globally.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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Syria |
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Human Rights Watch position
It is essential for any peace plan to include guarantees to respect human rights and protect civilians as well as accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Syria.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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Russia |
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Human Rights Watch position
In its relations with Russia, and with others about Russia, France should take into account the numerous violations of human rights and international law committed by the Russian authorities, as well as its position at the UN Security Council with regard to Syria.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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Saudi Arabia |
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Human Rights Watch position
As long as the bombings targeting civilians have not ceased and are not investigated in an independent and credible manner, it is essential that any arms sales to Saudi Arabia and to the countries of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen stop. |
Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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China |
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Human Rights Watch position
France, which has close diplomatic and economic relations with China, should call for the immediate release of Liu Xiao Bo, Nobel Peace Laureate in 2010, and call for an end to arbitrary detention in China.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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Military intervention in Africa |
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Human Rights Watch position
France should ensure that military intervention abroad, in particular in the context of counterterrorism cooperation in countries of the Sahel region, does not contribute to violations by the armed forces backed by France, or by French forces themselves.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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Fight against impunity |
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Human Rights Watch position
France should fight impunity for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by ensuring strong political and financial support for the International Criminal Court. The president should support ongoing efforts by French judicial authorities to investigate and prosecute serious crimes committed abroad, in places such as Syria.
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Emmanuel Macron |
Marine Le Pen |
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Let's Rise Up For Our Rights!
By Bénédicte Jeannerod, France Director at Human Rights Watch and Camille Blanc, President of Amnesty International France.
Published on Mediapart's website (in French)
Human Rights principles were proclaimed universal almost 70 years ago. They were articulated after a period of barbarity and contempt for human dignity caused by a lack of understanding of the critical importance of these rights. But we are seeing the most virulent attack on these principles in decades.
In France, speeches and proposals for emergency measures based on fear, intolerance, and stigmatization have been at the forefront of the presidential campaign. The disastrous logic behind these ideas has contaminated the political discussion. Even if candidates espousing these views do not win the election, which no one is in a position to predict conclusively, these ideas are settling into our political landscape.
We are concerned about the strength of the dikes protecting the rule of law and our democracy and of respect for the basic principles of human rights. Yes, we are afraid for the founding values of this country, which have been undermined and sometimes are even preempted by disturbing trends that we observe in Europe and in the world.
Expressions of xenophobia and hatred, which many leaders around the world have promoted, thrive on the feeling of insecurity in the face of terrorist attacks, unemployment, the crisis around welcoming refugees, and the perception of a dilution of national identity due to globalization. Demagogues play on the legitimate concerns of a section of the population to free themselves from the fundamental principles of the rule of law, which protect every human being. Instead they are promoting a double standard for protecting these rights, a contempt for justice, and a rejection of institutions that provide checks and balances on their power.
Hammered like a mantra and ignoring the facts, this rhetoric unfortunately seems to find a loud echo in a part of French society.
In the name of fighting terrorism, an elementary truth has been forgotten: that human rights were not invented by dreamers of beautiful and great principles. They are instead an essential condition to allow each and every one of us to live in safety, protected from arbitrary decisions to restrict our rights. They were acquired through social struggles and revolutions, and learned from the experience of previous generations. To be safe, we do not need fewer rights; instead, we must fight to ensure that all rights are effective for everyone.
In the face of a world that is disoriented and upset, wouldn’t the worst option be to give in to fear? To renounce the essential principles that guide us and let them be trampled? Should we not, on the contrary, reject without concession xenophobia and discrimination and preserve the understanding that the capacity for empathy defines our humanity? Should we not defend a strong and independent justice, and fiercely free and meticulous media in the search for the facts?
The situation is serious, but we refuse to see it as fatal. It is up to all of us working together to mobilize for the upcoming election and beyond, to show how much these principles matter to us and that they cannot be dissolved based on the fears of the moment.
Whichever candidate wins, we will be there to constantly remind the future President of the Republic of the principles for which they are the guardian and whose effective implementation they will have to ensure. These "human rights" are, above all, our own, so let us rise to demand them, defend them, protect them!
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This call by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International France is supported by Robert Badinter (former Justice Minister), Tahar Ben Jelloun (writer), William Bourdon (lawyer), Clotilde Courau (actress), C215 (street artist), Mireille Delmas-Marty (professor emeritus at Collège de France), Dan Franck (writer), Costa Gavras (filmmaker), Emily Loizeau (singer), François Morel (actor), Franck Pavloff (writer), Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber (journalist), Lambert Wilson (actor).