On June 27, 2023, Nahel Merzuok, a French citizen of Moroccan and Algerian descent, was shot and killed by a police officer in Nanterre, a suburb of Greater Paris. This harrowing incident ignited a wave of protests and riots that swept across Paris and the entirety of France, drawing comparisons to France’s “George Floyd moment.” However, like the United States, France has experienced multiple instances akin to a “George Floyd moment” in its history. This recent tragedy is but one in a series of deeply troubling events. To fully grasp the underlying causes of police brutality in modern France, one must delve into the obscured annals of eight decades of police history, much of which remains concealed by the French state.
An Extremist Past
The inception of the modern French police force, known as the Police Nationale, bears a haunting historical significance. It came into existence on April 23, 1941, under the decree of Philippe Petain, the head of state at the time. This particular year and the individual involved should immediately raise suspicion among those well-versed in history as it was amid the German occupation of France during the Second World War. The northern part of the country was under direct German military control, while the southern part was under the collaborationist Vichy Regime.
There is still hesitation from some to acknowledge the grim truth of the Holocaust’s horrifying reality: it was perpetrated in various parts of Europe with the active participation of local police forces. One of the most notorious instances of this collaboration occurred during the Velodrome d’Hiver Roundup on July 16 and 17, 1942. Acting on orders from German authorities, thousands of French police officers carried out the roundup, apprehending over 10,000 Jews residing in Paris.
Amid the shadows of this tumultuous era in France, one figure of considerable significance, though often overlooked, emerged – Maurice Papon. A French civil servant and staunch collaborationist, Papon played a pivotal role within the Vichy Regime, stationed in Bordeaux. His sinister task involved orchestrating the deportation of French Jews and European Jews residing in France to the harrowing Drancy Internment Camp, ultimately destined for the horrors of Auschwitz’s extermination chambers. However, the conclusion of World War II saw Papon eluding arrest and evading the justice he rightly deserved. Cunningly, he escaped judgment by producing fraudulent documents that falsely proclaimed his affiliation with the French Resistance, thereby concealing his profoundly troubling past.
Ici On Noie Les Algériens
After World War II, Papon was dispatched to Corsica and later Morocco, where he assumed a role in suppressing nationalist and separatist movements in these regions. In 1956, Papon was assigned to oversee the police force in Algeria, tasked with maintaining order during the turbulent Algerian War of Independence. In Algeria, Papon actively applied the torture techniques he had observed from the Gestapo, the secret police of Nazi Germany. Throughout the course of this “war”, the French State engaged in hundreds of thousands of instances of torture. It’s worth noting that the term “war” is placed in quotation marks here, as France continues to officially label the Algerian War as merely an “operation of public order” against a “terrorist” organisation until 1999. These actions were primarily targeted against members of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), an organisation fighting for the independence of Algeria.
Following the May 1958 Crisis, which led to the establishment of the French Fifth Republic with Charles de Gaulle as its president, Papon was appointed the Prefect of Police in Paris. In this capacity, Papon issued a series of illegal police directives, imposing a curfew on Algerians living in the city and prohibiting their access to various public venues, such as theatres and concerts. Additionally, he incited the police force to respond with greater violence by explicitly instructing police officers that for every attack against a French policeman, the Paris police should ‘give back ten’. This directive drew a direct parallel to the policy implemented by the Nazis in France, wherein ten French citizens would be executed for every German killed by the Resistance. According to French historian Jean-Luc Einaudi, many police officers interpreted Papon’s directive as an implicit endorsement for increased violence against the FLN (Einaudi, 1991, p.83).
As the war in Algeria raged on, the FLN called for a peaceful protest in Paris to demonstrate against the discriminatory and oppressive policies imposed on the Algerian community in France. Thousands of Algerians, many of whom were living in France and supporting Algerian independence, participated in the protest. The French authorities responded to the protest with a heavy hand. The police were ordered to crack down on the demonstration and a curfew was imposed on Algerians in the city. On the night of October 17, 1961, police officers confronted the protesters, resulting in a violent and chaotic clash. Many Algerians were beaten, arrested, and subjected to brutality by the police.
The most horrifying and tragic aspect of the event was the mass drowning of Algerian protesters in the Seine River. It is estimated that dozens of Algerian demonstrators were thrown into the river by the police, leading to over a hundred deaths. The exact number of casualties remains a subject of debate, as the French government initially downplayed the incident, and evidence was suppressed. A few days after the massacre, graffiti appeared on the Pont Saint-Michel. It read: “Ici on noie les Algeriens” (“Here we drown Algerians”).
The Enduring Nexus: The State and The Police
The enduring symbiotic relationship between the French state and its police force remains remarkably robust even in contemporary times. This interconnection serves the purpose of securing the allegiance of the police force during periods of political unrest, which are not uncommon in a country like France. Even the current French president, Emmanuel Macron, is no exception to this pattern.
This connection transcends mere protection; it is also about mutual benefit. President Macron’s recent decision to raise the minimum retirement age in France from 62 to 64 triggered nationwide protests. These protests, unsurprisingly, led to significant confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement, with the deployment of tear gas.
One might reasonably question why the police vigorously defended a government seeking to extend their working years. The answer is straightforward: the retirement age of 64 does not apply to current or former police officers. Those who have dedicated a minimum of 27 years to service as official or former police officers can retire between the ages of 52 and 54, an entire decade earlier than the rest of the French population. This unique privilege further underscores the intertwined relationship between the French government and its police force, as they protect their interests and distinct advantages within the system.
A Continuous Institutional Problem
In 2021, six decades after the 1961 Paris Massacre, Macron officially acknowledged that the French Republic had committed “unforgivable crimes.” However, he stopped short of issuing a formal apology for these reprehensible acts, aligning with France’s consistent policy of acknowledging past wrongdoings without exte”unforgivable crimes.”nding formal apologies. It is noted that in 1998, more than half a century after collaborating with the Nazis, Papon was finally convicted of crimes against humanity. At the age of 88, his punishment was a life sentence, which he served until his release in 2002 due to ill health. Since then, Papon has often been the man many point their finger to when talking about police brutality in France, as a way to ignore resolving the root of this institutional problem.
This pattern is mirrored in various parts of the world, where instances of police brutality often align with the authoritarian history of their respective police forces. In the United States, the origins of many modern police forces can be traced back to their roles in patrolling enslaved people two centuries ago. In many parts of Eastern Europe, the police forces have direct ties to those that supported authoritarian communist states just a few decades ago. Likewise, colonial powers in many parts of Africa used the police to suppress revolts during their rule. Facing this reality, countries have a choice of whether to confront their dark history and subsequently reform or keep the status quo.
Until France demonstrates a genuine commitment to engaging in a candid and unapologetic examination of the entrenched corruption within its police forces and the deeply ingrained systemic racism that festers within them, changes cannot happen. Each tragic instance of violence, such as the merciless shooting of Nahel Merzouk, should serve as a reminder that this is not merely another routine episode of police brutality. Instead, it echoes the phantom of Maurice Papon’s dark legacy, the chilling specter of Nazi collaboration, and the gruesome specter of the Massacre of 1961, all lurking ominously in the shadows of a nation’s conscience.
