France’s Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a three-month extension of the state of emergency imposed after deadly attacks in and around Paris on November 13 despite opposition from rights groups that say it undermines civic freedoms.
The National Assembly or lower house of Parliament approved the extension Tuesday night by a vote of 212-31. The measure had already been approved by the Senate and now will remain in effect until May 26.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve argued in Tuesday’s debate at the National Assembly that the threat of new terrorist violence remains very high after the Islamic extremist attacks that killed 130 people.
The state of emergency expands police powers to carry out arrests and searches and allows authorities to restrict the movements of people and vehicles at specific times and places. The state of emergency had already been extended once and was scheduled to end on February 26. (Source: France 24)
Comment:
France’s authoritarian and abusive regime continues to oppress Muslim women and children manifest in the interior ministers rolling state of emergency powers. This power authorises the placing of suspected individuals under house arrest of anyone “against whom there are serious reasons to believe his or her behavior constitutes a threat to public order and security.”
The authorities may confine people to their home for up to 12 hours a day, limit their movement outside their home, and require them to check in at a police station up to three times a day.
Following attacks in Paris, French law enforcement officials have without warrants conducted more than 3,200 raids and placed between 350 and 400 people under house arrest. According to a Human Rights Watch report and documented cases from the Collective Against Islamophobia in France reveals that the vast majority of those placed under house arrest or whose homes were searched are Muslims and persons of North African descent.
The measures have created economic hardship, stigmatized those targeted, and have traumatized children. For example at 11:30 p.m. on January 7, 2016, about 40 special intervention forces and local police raided the apartment of Myriam Naar, a 25-year-old French woman of Algerian origin, in the town of Millau in the southern Languedoc region. Naar said she was in her short-sleeve housecoat with her head uncovered. “I felt almost as if I were being seen naked as I usually wear the hijab,” she said. As Naar’s two young children looked on and screamed, the police, some masked, twice made her lie on the floor and refused her request to let her cover her hair with a headscarf, which she found humiliating, she said. Not content with terrorising this Muslim woman, the authorities placed Naar’s children, a 5-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, in foster care, saying her home was unsanitary and that she “lived like she was camping.” Naar, who was separated from her husband, said the apartment was almost empty because she was in the process of moving to Morocco. She said she suspected the authorities took away her children to prevent the move. Authorities later transferred the children to a second foster home for six months, a move that required the children to change schools. Naar, who unsuccessfully appealed the placement of her children in foster care, said she is allowed to see the children only on weekends and described them as “completely traumatized,” with symptoms that included vomiting.
Then there is the example of a pre-dawn raid on November 19, 2015, in Nice, police wounded a sleeping 6-year-old girl when they fired shots to burst open an apartment door, sending wood fragments flying through the room that struck the little girl’s neck and ear. The police found nothing in the apartment, which turned out to be the wrong address.
These are just a few from thousands of cases revealing the consequences of Frances extended emergency state powers. Like France, governments across the Western world have enacted authoritarian legislation in the US led fight against terrorism, extremism and radicalisation. France is clearly on a war path against Muslims who are holding onto their Islam despite oppressive policies designed to forcefully integrate Muslims into society. The millions of Muslims living in France have many challenges to face including the challenge of remaining steadfast upon their religion.
Anas bin Malik (ra) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ الصَّابِرُ فِيهِمْ عَلَى دِينِهِ كَالْقَابِضِ عَلَى الْجَمْرِ»
“There shall come upon the people a time in which the one who is steadfast upon his religion will be like the one holding onto a burning ember.” (Hasan) [Chapters on Al-Fitan: Jami At-Tirmidhi]
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوفْ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الأَمَوَالِ وَالأنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ * الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُواْ إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ * أُولَـئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ
“We will test you with a certain amount of fear and hunger and loss of wealth and life and fruits of your toil. But give good news to the steadfast: Those who, when disaster strikes them, say, “We belong to Allah and to Him we will return”. Those are the people who will have blessings and mercy from their Lord; they are the ones who are guided.”
(al-Baqara: 155-157)
Tsuroyya Amal Yasna