On April 15, 2025, (RE)Claim and Maison Communautaire pour un Développement Solidaire (MCDS) participated in the NGO delegation in Geneva to present our observations to the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT).
We sought to provide the Committee with relevant and useful information for its discussion with the French authorities on April 16 and 17 as part of its periodic review process.
In both our written and oral observations to the experts, we stressed the importance of qualifying abusive and discriminatory identity checks and fines as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, given their massive and systemic nature and the impacts they have on individuals and their families.
Myriame MATARI, (RE)Claim’s lawyer, noted that:
“A ground-breaking study corroborating our analysis, supported by the French Human Rights Ombudsman (DDD) was published on April 09, 2025. It stresses that there are “institutional policies” within French law enforcement that aim to evict from public spaces individuals that police categorize as “undesirables” on the basis of their age, gender, ethno-racial assignment and poverty. Through repeated “eviction checks” and serial fines for incivilities they have not committed, people targeted as ‘undesirables’ experience constant police harassment when they are present in public space near their homes. » (see Report Summary)
