France

Snapshot

While France's forays into secular extremism and the promotion of exclusionary and supremacist philosophies are well known, the French state has taken a significant turn for the worse since the election of President Emmanuel Macron. Macron came to power on the hope of wresting France from descent into fascism, isolationism, and xenophobia; instead, his government was instrumental in deepening the divide, promoting secular extremism and hateful rhetoric at the highest levels of government, dismantling individual and group freedoms, and enacting neoliberal policies that have plunged France into economic and social upheaval. France is credited with the unprecedented surge in Islamophobia across Europe, and has already checked off 7 of the 10 stages of genocide.

Genesis

While France has long touted its secular extremism, known as laïcité, as the final form of democratic enlightenment, it has weaponized it against its religious and ethnic minorities, severely curtailing religious freedom and singling out Muslims for persecution and denial of their civil and human rights. A litany of new measures and laws have been enacted, many with little to no coverage or public awareness, dramatically changing the status of France's Muslim population and targeting them for an insidious campaign of delegitimization.

As with all other systems of oppression and discrimination, France is moving beyond its Muslim population, using the same laws and measures to silence government critics and deny French citizens their right to self-determination through a fair pluralistic process. Some of the measures include:

• Creating the Republican Counter Discourse Unit, targeting any visible Islamic behavior as a threat and placing the entire community under siege. See report.

• Enacting the "Systematic Obstruction" policy, granting the state sweeping powers to surveil, raid, and seize the property of countless institutions and organizations, including those investigating rights violations. See report.

• Passing the "Anti-Separatism" law which has "transformed the legal system" itself into a tool for repression. See report.

• Seeking to spread these grave denials of freedom and extremist policies across Europe with surveillance pacts, in what has been described as a continental "witch hunt" of Muslims. See report.

• Deploying a concerted campaign to demonize Muslims through the media, online, and by government and non-government actors, spreading hateful rhetoric. See report (in French).

Reports

Report on state-sponsored persecution: CAGE

"We're beginning to spread terror": The state-sponsored persecution of Muslims in France.

Report on abuses of state of emergency: HRW

Abusive and discriminatory raids and house arrests of Muslims under State of Emergency law.

France’s Treatment of its Muslim Citizens is the True Measure of its Republican Values.

Report on Macron era policies: TIME