A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #351 - A, VSA, attacks on the arms industry, and other chronicles of control and repression (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Two examples of daily police violence ---- On June 13, 2023, in Besançon 
(25), ten police officers from the Dijon BRI and three members of the 
Besançon judicial police (PJ), dressed in black, hooded, and helmeted, 
formed an assault column to search an apartment in a Besançon 
neighborhood at 6 a.m. They suspected Antoine, the resident of the 
premises, who had already been convicted about fifteen times before 
2021, of harboring a wanted and dangerous criminal suspected of 
attempted murder with a Kalashnikov. In reality, Antoine was alone in 
his apartment. His dog, hearing a noise, barked, and Antoine opened his 
door and found himself face to face with the police.
Within two seconds, he was shot in the chest, puncturing his lung. Since 
then, the police officer has not been subject to any judicial review and 
has continued his career without ever being suspended or assigned to 
other duties. However, the investigation revealed the absence of any 
summons. While the IGPN concluded its investigation in January 2024 on 
the absence of a "proven threat" and recommended prosecution against the 
shooter, it was not until Antoine's lawyer filed a complaint with civil 
action that an investigating judge was appointed. Finally, nearly two 
years later, the BRI officer was charged with aggravated assault. To be 
continued!
A mobile team from the Social Emergency Medical Service (SAMU) on patrol 
called the police twice around 3 a.m. on April 9 after observing the 
confused behavior of a man who seemed very agitated, walking around 
barefoot, and talking to himself. He appeared to pose a danger to 
himself and others. They finally requested a police patrol stopped at a 
red light. Their intervention was extremely violent: the police officers 
placed a rear-naked chokehold to restrain the man in crisis, who was 
wearing a hospital bracelet on his wrist. They then used their tasers at 
least three times, including once while the man was already on the 
ground, restrained by his hands and feet. After the arrival of 
reinforcements, the victim was transferred to a Parisian hospital for 
intensive care. He was pronounced dead the same day!
Source: Mediapart.fr
Use of AI to monitor the population
As a reminder, algorithmic video surveillance involves integrating 
artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to analyze real-time feeds from 
video surveillance cameras. They are able to detect suspicious behavior, 
abnormal movements, or specific events. Facial recognition, on the other 
hand, makes it possible to identify or verify a person's identity by 
analyzing their facial characteristics. This practice is still 
prohibited in France. In Thonon-les-Bains, in Haute-Savoie, technology 
is making daily life easier for law enforcement by detecting suspicious 
behavior around sensitive establishments such as daycares and schools.
To demonstrate the system's relevance, the municipality even gave a 
demonstration on France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. On a feed from a camera 
positioned in front of a daycare, an individual paces; he is immediately 
highlighted by the AI. He then attempts to force a window, promptly 
triggering an alarm to alert the police. "We could have a prowler, a 
break-in, or a dumping ground. "Back then, it would take us several 
hours or even days to conduct research, but now we have the information 
we're looking for in just a few seconds. It's an incredible help in our 
day-to-day operations, and above all, we're more responsive," says 
Djamel Keriche, head of the security and public order department in 
Thonon-les-Bains. Algorithmic video surveillance is also proving useful 
for advancing investigations, the director continues. For example, it's 
possible to ask the AI for specific information, such as the 
identification of a yellow vehicle over a given period. This saves 
considerable time.
At the end of the technology's piloting, the government and Parliament 
will have to decide whether to continue using it, abandon it, or extend 
the testing phase. This decision will depend in particular on the 
evaluation report and the balance of power between security and 
individual freedoms.
Source: France3Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

The VSA piloting will not be extended! In a decision handed down on 
Thursday, April 24, the Constitutional Council censored a controversial 
provision, recently passed, which extended the experimentation of 
algorithmic video surveillance (VSA) in public spaces for two years.
This experiment consisted of having algorithms analyze video 
surveillance images during major public events to detect specific 
"events," such as crowd movements and intrusions into restricted areas. 
The law governing security for the Olympic Games extended this 
experiment until March 2025, but Article 15 of the law on strengthening 
transport security extended this measure for two years, bringing it to a 
close in March 2027.
Deputies had referred this matter to the Constitutional Council, 
believing that this measure, introduced by an amendment, was a 
legislative rider, meaning that the article had no connection with the 
initial text of the law. The Constitutional Council agreed with them!
This censorship of the extension of the VSA experiment is a setback for 
the government, which has repeatedly expressed its desire to continue 
using these security technologies. Several stakeholders had called for 
this extension, even before the submission of the evaluation report 
required by the JOP law, a report that was very mixed!

Other provisions of this law on transport security were examined by the 
Constitutional Council. It censured the provision allowing the use of 
coercion by private agents. The text of the law stipulated that SNCF and 
RATP security forces could "force" any person disturbing, in particular, 
"public order" to "leave" stations, stations, or vehicles. While these 
agents can indeed "refuse access" to these places, they cannot "exert 
coercion on a person who refuses to comply."
Another censured measure: the experimental installation of front and 
side cameras on school buses in Mayotte.

However, the law includes the permanent use of body cameras by ticket 
inspectors, as well as the ability for security forces-rail security for 
SNCF and GPSR for RATP-to conduct frisking without requiring prefects' 
approval, or to intervene near stations. These provisions have been 
validated by the Constitutional Council.
Source: lemonde.fr

In Seine-Saint-Denis, unionized teachers asked to "work elsewhere"
Despite a series of defeats in administrative courts (Kai Terada 
reinstated, Bordeaux Court of Appeal overturning the transfer of two 
teachers from Melle to Deux-Sèvres, etc.), the National Education 
administration is relentless. Five teachers from the Créteil academy are 
being transferred "in the interest of the service." A surprising measure 
of public law, theoretically non-disciplinary, but which allows a 
teacher to be abruptly transferred to another school during the year 
without their consent. "We understand the feelings, which can be 
difficult, but a transfer in the interest of the service is not a 
sanction," the rectorate assured Mediapart.
It should be noted that while the transfer in the interest of the 
service can, according to the texts, be applied immediately, it may in 
reality not take effect until September 1st... due to a lack of staff to 
replace those "compulsorily transferred."
Source: mediapart.fr

Attacks against the arms industry are reportedly on the rise
The trade magazine L'Usine Nouvelle explains in an article published on 
April 20 that General Philippe Susnjara, a former paratrooper who served 
in Africa and Afghanistan, a specialist in "international affairs" 
within the army, and now head of defense intelligence, is sounding the 
"alarm." According to him, cyberattacks have increased by 60% in one 
year and malicious physical acts by 50% in the sector. "This corresponds 
to several hundred incidents each year," explains the military officer.
For its part, France Inter reported on April 15 that "French defense 
manufacturers are the target of increasingly worrying attacks" and 
specified that "the attack is sometimes claimed, particularly by small 
anti-militarist or anti-war groups close to the ultra-left. Some 
movements have distributed press releases on forums or claimed 
responsibility for actions on specialized websites." Yet anti-war 
movements had declined significantly in recent years and are only just 
beginning to regain strength.
General Susnjara provides more details in an interview in L'Usine 
Nouvelle. He explains that there is a "radicalization of certain 
anti-militarist groups," and that this could "potentially halt the 
increases in production rates driven by contractors in the midst of a 
war economy." It would be a real shame if France could not rearm 
massively or export its warplanes and missiles to the four corners of 
the world...
On France Inter, he explained that "these actions aim to disrupt 
production, in a context of ramping up linked to the war economy. It is 
the sector's SMEs that are most exposed. They are more numerous, less 
protected than large groups, and often poorly prepared." Indeed, the 
military industry in France employs tens of thousands of people in 
numerous and highly varied factories throughout the country. Some, for 
example, export components for the Israeli army and deserve to be 
highlighted. In almost every French department, companies contribute to 
the war economy.
Without workers, without the production and transport of weapons, no war 
is possible. It cannot be emphasized enough that the world of work can 
prevent military conflicts through strikes, blockades, and sabotage, and 
General Susnjara is well aware of this. Source: Excerpt from 
contre-attaque.net

A race for new technologies to maintain order
Connected tactical vests, Bluetooth headsets, artificial intelligence: 
the State wants "augmented police officers and gendarmes."
Within the gendarmerie, this type of equipment is being evaluated by the 
Analysis, Anticipation, and Teaching Office (BAAP) of the National 
Training Center for the Gendarmerie, in Saint-Astier (Dordogne). The 
pace of the experiments conducted there illustrates the ramp-up of a 
structure that has been in particularly high demand. From around ten in 
2020, they rose to 118 in 2024.
Automated and remote-controlled harrow; "reversible" grenade whose 
trigger is canceled by a simple press of the fuse cap; connected 
tactical vest with an integrated gyroscope, capable of detecting the 
wearer's fall or immobilization; An articulated arm supporting the 28 
kilos of the heavy ballistic shield: it is in the hands of these experts 
that innovative equipment-or so-called innovative equipment-is tested to 
the limits of its capabilities.
It was here that the "active earplugs" equipped with Bluetooth were 
approved, which isolate the eardrums in a millisecond when a certain 
volume is exceeded.
The private sector has clearly understood the value of this growing 
market. Dozens of companies are already deploying a full range of tools 
designed to exploit growing masses of public data, predict the risk of 
disturbances during a demonstration, or jam cell phone communications in 
a specific area. Source: Excerpt from le monde.fr

B. Retailleau decorated five RAID police officers indicted for violence
In Marseille, during the riots of summer 2023, the deployment of the 
RAID in the city center resulted in the death of Mohamed Bendriss, aged 
27, and the blinding of his cousin, Abdelkarim Y., both victims of shots 
fired by this unit with a LBD 40 and a bean bag launcher.
Five police officers from the Marseille branch of the RAID are currently 
under investigation in these two cases: three for fatal blows and two 
for violence resulting in permanent mutilation.
In October 2024, several months after the events and after their 
indictment, these five officers were awarded the "Internal Security 
Medal" by the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau. This 
decoration, created in 2012 by Nicolas Sarkozy, "is intended to reward 
particularly honorable services, including exceptional commitment, 
intervention in a particular context, humanitarian action, or the 
accomplishment of a one-off or continuous action beyond the normal scope 
of service, rendered by any person, during their career or as part of 
civic or volunteer commitment, for missions or actions reported relating 
to internal security" (excerpt from the Internal Security Code).
This is not a first. In 2019, five police officers involved in violence 
against Yellow Vest protesters received the same decoration. Senior 
police officers and successive interior ministers are increasingly 
taking responsibility for defending police officers implicated by the 
judicial authorities. This is one example, for example, in the summer of 
2023, when the Director General of the National Police called for 
unprecedented preferential treatment for officers: the prohibition of 
being held in pretrial detention for acts committed in the performance 
of their duties.

Source: mediapart.fr

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4477
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en