Global Voices » Suzanne Lehn

New Caledonia: Controversy around the 1988 Ouvéa Hostage Taking Movie

Suzanne Lehn — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:26:37 +0000

French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz's movie “L'ordre et la morale” (”Order and morality”), that recounts the tragic 1988 hostage taking at the Ouvéa cave, is not welcome in New Caledonia. The blog Ecran Noir ('Black Screen') describes the local controversy around the film's release, here and here [fr]. After New Caledonia's one and only theater declined, the movie will finally be shown in the Tjibaou Cultural Center [fr] in the capital Nouméa, on Déc. 12.

France: A tribute to Author Hubert Nyssen

Suzanne Lehn — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:52:00 +0000

French writer and publisher Hubert Nyssen [fr], who founded the publishing house Actes Sud, died on Nov. 12. 2011. Among the many tributes to this lover of foreign litteratures and eulogist of translation as a form of art, one can find Sabrina's post that retraces [fr] his biography, an unabridged version of the post she wrote in 2005.

Togo: 3rd BarCamp Selects the Translation for “Blog” in Ewé Language

Suzanne Lehn — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:07:02 +0000

In its presentation of the third edition of BlogCamp Togo, togocouleurs explains that [fr] the Togolese blogosphere coined a new word for “blog” in the Ewé language (spoken in Togo, Ghana and Benin) : “with the vote taking place directly on the ETTIC [fr] ('Togolese Space for Information and Communication Technologies') Facebook wall, the neologism « Nyablog » was chosen by the majority of voters as the translation for blog (ahead of other options such as kaméhoma, kamégbalé or kamégnakaka).

France, World: Discontent Against G8 Meeting About the Internet

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 21 May 2011 10:19:00 +0000

Blog Club de l'Europe is outraged [fr] by the ”Internet sharks' feast” to be held on May 24 and 25, 2011, at the Musée du Louvre, in Paris. The meeting aims to prepare the G8 forum, which will be focused (according to its French presidency) on the Internet, but only economic and security issues will be tackled. A petition “Protect the Net” campaigning for citizen-centered Internet policies can be signed here.

North Africa: Manifesto for a Maghreb of Cinema

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 21 May 2011 10:13:55 +0000

The Arab revolution has also impacted the cinema world. Filmmakers from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have just launched on their blog Maghreb du cinéma [fr], a suggestion box to reinvigorate the creation, production and distribution of their work. Their manifesto can be signed here [fr].

Côte d'Ivoire: After Failed Mediation, Is the Worst Yet to Come?

Suzanne Lehn — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:48:39 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.

The meeting of five African Union (AU) heads of states about Côte d'Ivoire's state of electoral deadlock made it briefly possible to believe that a détente in the country's political crisis was within reach. The West African nation has been experiencing a drawn out governance stalemate since two opposing leaders, Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, both claimed victory in the November 2010 presidential election.

Alas, this mediation, called by many the “last resort meeting”, seems to have failed, after Laurent Gbagbo's representatives in Ethiopian capital Addis-Ababa rejected [fr] the panel's conclusions on March 17, 2011 (the day after the decisions were announced):

“Nous avons estimé que c'est une proposition inacceptable”, a déclaré le président du Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) Pascal Affi N'Guessan. “Malheureusement, nous avons constaté que le panel de haut-niveau s'est contenté de reprendre ce que nous savons déjà. Le panel est dans l'incapacité de nous donner les arguments qui fondent cette décision.”

“We deemed that it was an inadmissible proposal”, stated Pascal Affi N'Guessan, president of the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) . “Sadly, we noted that the high-level panel merely took up what we already knew. The panel is unable to give us the arguments justifying this decision.”

Failed Mediation

Supporters of Charles Blé Goudé, leader of the Student Federation of Cote d’Ivoire who has called young Ivorians to arms at a rally in Abidjan. Image by Stefan Meissel, copyright Demotix (21/12/10).

This stance of Laurent Gbagbo came as somewhat of a surprise after his enthusiastic embrace of the 16th AU Summit's decision to set up a panel of five heads of states, in charge of finding a peaceful solution to the Ivorian post-electoral crisis. Gbagbo even welcomed it as a victory, as he had already wished for a high level international commission to come to Côte d’Ivoire to “find out about the truth about the sequence of events during the elections”, and further assess the whole electoral process.

What did the panel recommend that angered Gbagbo's camp so much?

Firstly, it reached the conclusion that Alassane Ouattara won the election and suggests he forms a national unity government; the prime minister, defence and interior ministers would all have to be appointed according to the Permanent Concertation Frame (Cadre Permanent de Concertation [fr] - CPC), of the Ouagadougou Agreements.

The panel also recommends creating a National Security Council (Conseil national de sécurité - CS) to set up a new Ivorian military, as well as institutional changes in the system of parliamentary elections and other upcoming elections.

Moreover, the establishment of a Republic High Council was suggested, the mission of which would be to promote social reconciliation in Côte d’Ivoire. To put all this into place, they required the Ivorian Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel [fr]) to proceed with Ouattara's inauguration as president, and the latter to offer former President Laurent Gbagbo guarantees.

After ratifying these propositions from the panel, the AU Council for Peace and Security asked the President of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, to appoint a high representative responsible for following the implementation of the resolutions on the ground, and ready to take any relevant and necessary steps to apply and enforce the decisions taken.

Media influence

Those measures did not go down well with Gbagbo: in Ivorian economic capital Abidjan, the following days were used by the pro-Gbagbo media to influence the nation towards a complete rejection of the AU panel's decisions. For instance, in a statement to the press the national secretary of the Women's Organization of the Front Populaire Ivoirien (OFFPI), Marie-Odette Lorougnon condemns:

l’incapacité des pays Africains «à se démarquer des injonctions de la France et des Usa » pour piétiner la Constitution ivoirienne

the inability of African nations “to distance themselves from France's and the USA's behest” to trample on the Ivorian Constitution

According to her:

la décision du panel d’entériner la victoire de M. Ouattara Alassane ne repose sur aucun fondement. «En le proclamant élu, sur la seule base de la certification de M. Choi, le panel a manqué d’objectivité et de courage…Il a montré l’incapacité des organisations africaines à prendre leurs responsabilités et le refus d’une certaine Afrique de grandir, de prendre sa liberté, son indépendance et d’acquérir sa souveraineté»

the panel's decision to confirm Mr. Alassane Ouattara's victory is unfounded. “While proclaiming him elected, on the sole base of Mr. Choi's certification, the panel lacked both objectivity and courage… It demonstrated the inability of African organizations to face up to their responsabilities and the unwilling of a part of Africa to grow up, take up its freedom and independence and to achieve sovereignty”

Lorougnon's statement was repeatedly broadcast by Ivorian television channel RTI TV and mentioned on the channel's Twitter account (@RTI_Officiel):

@RTI_Officiel: Déclaration de l'OFFPI relative à la décision du Panel de l'UA. - RTI 1ere -http://t.co/V3HISrG via @AddThis

@RTI_Officiel: The OFFPI statement about the decision by A.U. Panel RTI 1ere -http://t.co/V3HISrG via @AddThis

After the recommendations of the last chance negotiation had been rejected, Alassane Ouattara called upon his opponent Laurent Gbagbo in a calm speech on Ivorian television on March 15, 2011:

Au président Laurent Gbagbo, je voudrais dire qu'il est temps, dans l'intérêt supérieur de la Nation, qu'il accepte de se conformer à la volonté des Ivoiriens et aux décisions de l'Union africaine.

Il doit comprendre qu'il s'agit-là, pour lui-même et pour ses proches, de la dernière chance pour une sortie pacifique et honorable. Sa responsabilité est personnellement engagée.

To President Laurent Gbagbo, I would like to say that the time has come for the better interest of the [Ivorian] nation, for him to accept to agree and comply with the will of the Ivorian people and the African Union's decisions.

He has to understand that it is now, for him and those near him, the last chance for a peaceful and dignified departure. It is his personal responsibility.

Laurent Gbagbo declined delivering a speech on television on Thursday March 17. Instead, his spokesperson offered on the same day the proposition of Ivorian talks [fr], calling on the “rebels” to lay down their arms. The Ouattara camp declined this offer, with diplomatic aide Ali Coulibaly stating:

Gbagbo essaie d'endormir la conscience des gens […] sa parole n'a aucune espèce d'importance […] Que signifie une issue pacifique ? On veut que Gbagbo parte c'est tout […] M. Gbagbo a accepté de négocier une issue pacifique de la crise, sans condition préalable

Gbagbo attempts to dupe people's awareness. […] His word does not count in any way. […] What does a peaceful outcome mean? We want Gbagbo to leave, that's all. […] Mr. Gbagbo agreed to discuss a peaceful outcome from the crisis, without any preliminary conditions.

Charles Blé Goudé, leader of the Student Federation of Cote d’Ivoire (FESCI) at a meeting in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Image by Stefan Meissel, copyright Demotix (21/12/2010).

Over the last weeked, the situation in Côte d'Ivoire has taken a turn for the worst. On Saturday March 19, leader of the Student Federation of Côte d'Ivoire (FESCI), Charles Blé Goudé, called on the pro-Gbagbo youth movement Jeunes patriotes (Young Patriots) to enrol in the national Ivorian army (loyal to Gbagbo) this Monday, 21 March, by registering at the Armed Forces headquarters in Abidjan [fr].

During his speech [fr] Blé Goudé, nicknamed the “Minister of the Streets” rallied his troops:

Je demande à tous les jeunes de Côte d'Ivoire [fr] qui se sentent aptes, qui sont prêts à mourir pour leur patrie, qui ne supportent plus l'humiliation que subit la Côte d'Ivoire, de se rendre dès lundi à 07H00 (locales et GMT) à l'état-major pour se faire enrôler dans l'armée afin de libérer la Côte d'Ivoire de ces bandits

I'm calling on the youth of Côte d'Ivoire [fr] who feel apt, and are ready to die for their country, who cannot bear the humiliation imposed on Côte d'Ivoire, to gather at the Army headquarters from 7am this Monday (local time) to be drafted in the army and thus liberate Côte d'Ivoire from those bandits

End to “bare hands struggle”

This call for war signals the end of the “bare hands struggle” that Blé Goudé has long been calling for against the “forces of occupation” [fr], namely the United Nations peacekeepers and the Force Licorne, a French regiment based in Côte d'Ivoire:

J'ai fait le choix de la résistance aux mains nues, je suis en train de me rendre compte qu'on veut m'obliger à changer de ligne. On veut m'obliger à faire ce que je n'ai pas envie de faire

I had made the choice of a weaponless resistance, but I am now becoming aware that they want me to change tactics. They want to force me to do something that I don't want to do

This call from Blé Goudé contrasts sharply with the “dialogue” suggested by Gbagbo and deeply concerns many Ivorians, such as Twitter user @Marie0531, who tweeted on March 20:

@Marie0531: #Gbagbo's conflicting messages:Willing to hold talk with rival and then belies supporters to neutralize the opposition.#CIV2010 Pick one

For many Ivorians and observers, Blé Goudé's statement is a big step forward on the path toward civil war in Côte d'Ivoire. @nicocerise tweeted on the same day:

@nicocerise: Blé Goudé prévoit d'envoyer à la mort des jeunes patriotes. lundi est une journée fatidique pour la #civ2010 l'heure est gravissime

@nicocerise: Blé Goudé is bent on sending the young patriots to their grave. Monday is a crucial day for #civ2010 [Côte d'Ivoire] the hour has come

A call to arms made by a civilian in the absence of military leadership meanwhile, raises questions for @woizo_sp:

@woizo_SP: Lappel au 2e enrolement se fait sans la présence de MANGOU lors du meeting de BLE GOUDE et mieu se fera a la GR.La vérité va sortir #civ2010

@woizo_SP: The call for a second draft has been made in the absence of [military chief] MANGOU during BLE GOUDE's public meeting, and even more surprising, will take place at the army headquarters (GR). The truth is about to be revealed #civ2010

Is the worst yet to come? Will Côte d'Ivoire be the stage for a civil war? To recruit and arm young volunteers is a terrifying move and a sinister reminder of the Interahamwe Hutu paramilitary organization during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Even if the bloodshed does not reach the magnitude of the Rwandan tragedy, widescale attacks on civilians are to be feared.

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.

Cote d'Ivoire : SMS Service Suspended During Elections to Prevent Violence

Suzanne Lehn — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 14:51:13 +0000

diabymohamed informs on Twitter that in anticipation of the presidential election of Sunday, Oct. 31 in Cote d'Ivoire, the Ivorian Telecom Authority (ATCI) decided to suspend short text message services, a decision that is reasonable for some because of potential messages of violence : “RT @2romeo: #Abidjan closing of SMS services from end of vote until tuesday morning. Great precaution for dispassionate results”.

Cote d'Ivoire : Citizen and Collaborative Election Monitoring System

Suzanne Lehn — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 14:32:35 +0000

The internetsansfrontieres.com website informs [Fr]: “For the presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire on Oct. 31, Internet Sans Frontières and Akendewa set up a citizen and collaborative election monitoring system. The system allows for direct access to citizen reporting.”

France: First Case of Burqa Rage?

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:46:32 +0000

Allain Jules, blogging in centpapiers from Quebec, cannot wait for the impending decision of a French court in the case of a 63 years old former teacher who ripped off the burqa of a young female tourist from the United Arab Emirates in a Parisian shop back in February. She told the police that: “she had been working in Arab countries before and she was just fed up with all the fuss about the veil”. Allain Jules sarcastically adds that the business of luxury goods might suffer from the incident [Fr].

France: An Imaginary Dialogue between Sarkozy and Berlusconi

Suzanne Lehn — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:50:38 +0000

The Bienvenue chez les Rroms blog (”rroms” is the spelling of Roma in Romani language) imagines [Fr] a satirical conversation in which French President Nicolas Sarkozy seeks comfort and advice with his friend Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, after being unexpectedly victimized of his own suggestion that some categories of offenders should be stripped of their French nationality.

France: Learn More about the Itinerant Community

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:23:13 +0000

Around the hot topic of the “gens du voyage” in France - the itinerant community - Léa Charles from suite101.fr, gives a few definitions to sport out any confusion; Les actualités du droit outlines the details of the law as they ought to be applied on this issue, Yann Savidan interviews some members of the community, and Asiamour wrote a poem about her love for the community [fr].

France: Expulsions of Roma people from Camp Sites Stir Feelings of Shame

Suzanne Lehn — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:33:19 +0000

As Roma people are expelled from campsites by security forces under the supervision of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs, Club de l'Europe blog [Fr] links to a video entitled “How many hens did we steal from you this year?“. “We shot these images in march 2003. Now the same people are still treated as subhuman while being blamed for the living standards that are forced upon them”.

France: Rioting in the Itinerant Community after Shooting Sparks Row

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:44:14 +0000

In French politics, summer somnolence is usually a favorable time to pass painful reforms - retirement pensions for instance - or drastic budget cuts. Unfortunately, summer doesn't make social problems go on a hiatus. On July 18th, riots shook the quiet town of Saint Aignan in the Loire valley and immediately revived law-and -order reactions while also highlighting the discriminatory practices towards the itinerant community - referred to as ”Gens du voyage” (Traveler People) in French.

Across the river, by flickr user Bolt of Blue, CC licensed

Riots broke out in the town of 3,400 people after 22 year old Luigi Duquenet was shot and killed as he drove through a police checkpoint. Members of the itinerant community reacted to his death by attacking the local police station, hacking down trees, pillaging a bakery and eventually burning down cars. French President Nicolas Sarkozy called a meeting at the Elysée office to discuss the issue of the itinerant communities in France and “the problems created by their behaviour”. Sarkozy reaffirmed his “war against delinquents” stance and announced that itinerant people residing on illegal sites would be expelled.

A political argument?

Even in the Presidential political camp, the announcement was not unanimously approved. As reported by newspaper Le Monde [Fr], UMP Party Senator Pierre Hérisson, who wrote a report on the issue in 2008, fears that the “Saint-Aignan incident” might raise “confusion”. “What happened in Saint-Aignan is a matter of common law. It is not a problem related to the itinerant community”, he said, further reminding the public that in no way should the Roma community be considered as equivalent to the itinerant community. Although mentioned side by side in Nicolas Sarkozy's sentence, the two communities share neither the same history nor the same legal status, and are not in contact with one another. Stéphane Lévêque, director of the community organization Fédération nationale des associations solidaires d'action avec les Tsiganes et les gens du voyage (Fnasat) explains [Fr]:

“On one hand, you have the Roma people, who are foreign citizens of the European Union [mainly from Romania and Bulgaria], and on the other hand, the gens du voyage [traveler people], who are fully-fledged French citizens, and have been French for much longer than the Bretons and Savoyards”.

Bloggers' outrage found support even in the moderate main media outlets. Jean-Pierre Dacheux emphasized this point by quoting Europe 1 radio station [Fr]:

Il y a des soirs où les faits parlent d'eux-mêmes. Même les médias “modérés” constatent l'outrance d'un gouvernement aux abois.

On nights like this, facts speak for themselves. Even “moderate” media notice the outrageousness of a government on the edge.

In a column on Rue89 online magazine, sociologist Laurent Mucchielli denounces [Fr] the exploitation of violence by the government. He concludes sarcastically:

Mais nous divaguons ! Il ne faut pas réfléchir, chercher les causes, diagnostiquer les contextes, s'informer d'abord auprès des acteurs locaux, nous risquerions de « donner des excuses aux délinquants » et de remettre en cause la croyance selon laquelle l'Etat et son premier représentant vont régler, une fois pour toutes, tous nos problèmes.

We must be delusional ! We are not supposed to think, look for the causes, diagnose contexts, or get information from the locals involved first; because that might lead us to “give the offenders an excuse” and therefore doubt the postulate that the state and its top representative is going to solve, once and for all, all our problems.

Stigmatization

Area for Traveller people, by flickr user Lafontanella CC licensed

Outrage erupted quickly as well elsewhere, from both concerned citizens and supporting organizations. Jean-Pierre Dacheux writes [Fr]:

“La France va mal, votre président va mal. Il cherche à détourner l'opinion publique vers des cibles faciles”, a déclaré Saimir Mile, porte-parole de la Voix des Roms. “Nous nous préparons à en prendre plein la gueule comme ça a toujours été le cas pendant les crises politiques mais cette fois-ci, encore un peu plus. La situation est très grave… La France ne veut pas des Roms.”

“France is not doing well, and neither does your president. He tries to distract the public with easy targets”, said in a statement Saimir Mile, spokesman of the Voice of the Roms. “We are getting ready for a lot of bashing, as is always the case in times of political crisis, but this time it will be so much more. This is a serious situation… France does not want Roma people.”

[…]

La réunion de mercredi prochain aura également pour objet de décider “des expulsions de tous les campements en situation irrégulière”, selon un communiqué de l'Elysée. Pour Coralie Guillot, de l'association Parada France, qui travaille avec les Roms de Seine-Saint-Denis, “ce n'est pas la peine qu'ils se réunissent car c'est déjà décidé: on n'a jamais vu autant d'évacuations en Ile-de-France que depuis deux ou trois mois”.

Next Wednesday's agenda for the meeting will include a decision on “the evictions from all unauthorized camps”, states a presidential press release. For Coralie Guillot, from the nonprofit organization Parada France that works with Romas in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis , “They don't need to hold the meeting because the decision is already made: we have never seen as many evictions in the Ile-de-France region as what we've witnessed in the past 2 or 3 months”.

[a full report about shanty towns can be found here]

ZEC plus ultra stresses [Fr] that France was recently condemned by the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe for the housing conditions it offers to the Roma community. Beside quoting the main points of the decision (the entire decision can be found here), the blog provides links - including the Romeurope website - and a booklist to learn more about the Roma community.

Reading a report about the issue in a magazine, Feufol senses a trend of stigmatization and conflation that makes him uncomfortable [Fr]:

J'ai bien du mal à ne pas voir que derrière la mesure de façade que recouvre l'expression “certains parmi les gens du voyage” se cache une évidente stigmatisation de certaines catégories de la population qui n'a à mon sens pas sa place dans la bouche du chef de l'état.
Tolérerions-nous cette phrase si elle avait été prononcée à l'encontre, des juifs, des musulmans, des homosexuels, ou des bruns à lunettes ?
Il y a cet amalgame aussi qui me dérange, en ce qu'il semble désigner tous les nomades ; tsiganes, gitans, gens du cirque et ces Roms dont on connait mal les persécutions.
Et pourtant - et c'est peut être la principale raison de ma colère- je peine à trouver dans la presse les torrents d'indignation que ces propos devraient soulever.

I find it difficult not to see, hidden behind the facade of the phrase “some people amidst the gens du voyage” an obvious stigmatization of some segments of population, which in my opinion has no place in a head of state's speech. Would we tolerate such a words if they were uttered about Jews, Muslims, gays or dark-haired, bespectacled guys?
I'm also uncomfortable with the conflation in his speech because it seems to identify all the itinerant communities: Zigans, Gypsies, circus artists, and Romas, whose persecutions are hardly known by the public.
And yet - and this is probably the main reason why I'm so upset - I'm hard pressed to find in the media the outpouring of outrage that those words should raise.

Aporismes is even more specific in his pointed criticism [Fr]:

En même temps, si ils portaient un signe distinctif, on pourrait les reconnaître ces roms. Ca permettrait de prévenir toutes leurs actions répréhensibles. Car c’est bien connu, ils ont ça dans le sang, c’est lié à leur race. Non ? Un petit signe. Pas une étoile, c’est connoté. Un tatouage ? Limite…

Vous trouvez qu’Aporismes exagère ? Que jamais dans ce pays cela pourrait arriver ?

Relisez cet article de Libération. Vous verrez qu’en France, en 2009, la gendarmerie n’a pas trouvé choquant pour un sou de marquer des Roms avec un tampon encreur. Histoire de faire un tri. C’est à ce genre d’actions, au fait que ses auteurs n’y voient vraiment rien à redire, même avec le recul que l’on peut mesurer à quel point Nicolas Sarkozy a instauré une république du mépris.

Or, du mépris à la haine, il n’y a qu’un pas.

At the same time, should they wear a distinctive mark, we could tell them apart, the Romas. That would allow us to prevent all their reprehensible deeds. Because it is a well-known fact that, it is in their blood right ? It's all linked to race, after all, right? A little mark. No a star, because there is history there. A tattoo? Too much, maybe..?
You think I'm going too far with my cynicism ? You think that will never happen in this country?
Read again this report from Libération. You'll find that in 2009 in France, the National Gendarmerie was not shocked at all to mark Roma people with an inking-pad, just to sort them out. Even with the additional time-induced perspective, one realizes that it is because of these kind of deeds, in addition to the fact that the perpetrators seem to think there is nothing wrong going on, that one can get the measure of how much of a Republic of contempt Nicolas Sarkozy has established. As we know, there's a very thin line between contempt and hatred.

Meanwhile, the voices inside the itinerant communities themselves or from sympathizers remain temperate.
Blogger and on-line novelist Anna Galore writes [Fr]:

Dans cette malheureuse histoire autour du décès de Luigi, il y a plus que les faits et beaucoup moins qu'on ne peut en lire un peu partout. Tâchons déjà de n'incriminer ni les policiers, ni les Roms en général mais de chercher toujours plus à apprendre à mieux nous connaître pour vivre ensemble dans le respect mutuel.

There is more to this sad story around Luigi's death than the bare facts, and much less than what you can read just about anywhere. Let us, as it is, try not to accuse police officers or Roma people as a whole, but always strive to know each other better so as to live together in mutual respect.

dROMa blog gives a basic account of the facts [De] and links to the France Info radio station website for more comments from the community [Fr].

Human rights organization Ligue des Droits de l'Homme (LDH) concluded in its July 21 statement [fr]:

Les rapports officiels se succèdent pour dénoncer la situation des Roms et des Gens du voyage en France (CNCDH 2008, Halde 2009, Ecri /Commissaire aux droits de l'Homme du Conseil de l'Europe 2010…). Plutôt que d'en faire des boucs émissaires et d'exacerber les passions, le gouvernement se devrait de suivre enfin les recommandations qui lui sont faites pour affirmer l'égalité des droits.

Successive official reports all denounce the situation of the Roma people and itinerant community in France. Rather than making scapegoats out of them and exacerbating passions, the goverment's duty should be to at last, follow the recommendations given to them and assert equal rights.

[ If you know of Roma blogs in French, please contribute with links in the comments section]

Europe, U.S.A.: Poll on Burqa Ban Shows Opposite Viewpoints

Suzanne Lehn — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:49:02 +0000

The blog EU-logos about European affairs reflects (fr) on a recent poll by the Pew Research Center that shows a widespread support in European countries for a burqa ban whereas such proposal would be rejected by 65% of voters in the U.S [Fr]. The blog suggests that such transatlantic polls would be relevant for other issues that pertain to citizenry. French parliament voted today in favor of a burqa ban.

France: Reflections on Being Part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla

Suzanne Lehn — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:04:34 +0000

Miloud was on board of a Greek ship sailing to Gaza with the Freedom Flottilla that was raided by the IDF. Back in his home town of Marseilles, he tells [Fr] Marseille Bondy Blog about his experience.