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France invokes emergency laws

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 November 2005, 15:13 CST

By Timothy Heritage

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government imposed rarely used emergency laws on Tuesday to put riot-torn areas of the country under curfew in efforts to quell the worst unrest in decades.

After 12 days of violence by youths who have torched cars, schools and churches in protest against racism and unemployment, the government invoked a 1955 law on states of emergency that was used to curb unrest during Algeria's war of independence.

The decree was due to go into force at midnight (2300 GMT). It allows emergency measures to be in force for 12 days and can restrict the movement of people and vehicles in areas where local government officials known as prefects declare a curfew.

The northern city of Amiens was the first to announce a curfew, saying unaccompanied youths would not be allowed to walk the streets of the city and neighboring districts from midnight until 6 a.m. In coming days the curfew will start at 10 p.m.

"The Republic faces a moment of truth," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told the lower house of parliament.

"France is wounded. It cannot recognize itself in its streets and devastated areas, in these outbursts of hatred and violence which destroy and kill," he said.

Protests receded in the Paris region on Monday night after shots were fired at police the previous night, but continued unabated in other towns in the early hours of Tuesday.

Nearly 1,200 vehicles were set ablaze during the night in violence that hit provincial cities including Strasbourg, Lille and Toulouse.

"A WARNING AND APPEAL"

More than 5,000 cars have now been set on fire during the 12 days of unrest and more than 1,500 people have been detained, some of them white youngsters but many of them of Arab and African origin.

Villepin said 1,500 police would be brought in to back up the 8,000 officers already deployed in areas hit by violence, widely seen as the most serious unrest since protests in 1968.

"We see these events as a warning and as an appeal," Villepin said. "A return to order is the absolute priority. The government has shown this. It will take all the steps necessary to ensure the protection of our citizens and to restore calm.

The violence, which began when two youths were accidentally electrocuted fleeing police in a Paris suburb on October 27, has undermined France's efforts to portray itself as a society based on equality for everyone.

It has also put fierce pressure on Villepin and President Jacques Chirac.

Five cars were torched in Brussels during the night in what officials say could have been copycat attacks, but the rioting has not spread beyond France's borders.

CONCERNS ABROAD

Even so, fears of riots erupting in other countries helped push down the value of the euro, which at one point hit a two-year low against the dollar. French officials also fear investment and tourism will be hit by the violence.

Villepin promised to accelerate urban renewal programs and vowed to help young people in poor suburbs by reducing unemployment and improving their education opportunities.

Chirac said the measures were needed to restore order but he faces criticism for saying little in public about the violence, in which one man has been killed.

"The absence of the president is remarkable in this period we're going through," said Francois Bayrou, head of a centrist party that is critical of the conservative government.

Socialist Party deputy Jean-Marc Ayrault said in parliament: "Your government, Mr. Prime Minister ... bears heavy responsibility over this outburst of passions."

Mayors of riot-hit towns welcomed the government's tougher line. A town east of Paris imposed its own curfew on minors on Monday evening and another to the west of the capital organized citizens' patrols to help the police.

But some mayors asked what another measure announced by Villepin -- extended powers for them -- would mean in practice.

"Every time they announce more powers for mayors, they cut the funds," complained Jean-Christophe Lagarde, mayor of the northeastern Paris suburb of Drancy.

Officials in Belgium played down the violence there, although there were minor arson incidents in Sint Niklaas in the north and Liege in the east as well as in the capital.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish immigrants living in Europe to avoid getting caught up in riots. Influential Muslim cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi called for calm and urged the French government to address the root causes.

Source: REUTERS

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