By Kristin Erickson
France is, once again, the focus of security and geopolitical discussions. The nation is under a six-month continuation of its unprecedented 14-month “state of emergency,” which the government passed after the July attack in Nice, France. This November marks one year since the executive initially instituted the state of emergency following the November 2015 Paris attacks. Enacting the state of emergency law dates back to the start of the 1955 Franco-Algerian War, when the French passed the law in an effort to put down rebellions in the former colony. Today, it aims to protect the nation from various, unspecified threats to national safety and security, and President François Hollande’s government claims that this law allows them to do just that. The French Parliament voted to pass the current provisions 336 to 0.
The broad scope of the law allows the government to impose curfews, stop demonstrations, impose house arrest on potential suspects, seize data from phones and computers, search luggage, and confiscate weapons - all without a court-issued warrant. When first enacted, the breadth of the state of emergency seemed extraordinary, but, after a year, it has become the new normal. However, the results of the extra security measures are less than stellar; only 7% of 4,000 searches resulted in court proceedings. Furthermore, these measures failed to stop the Nice attack. Despite the act’s safety precautions, the prime minister of France, Manuel Valls, says that the French people should expect continued attack attempts. However, while emphasizing that the country’s citizens must learn to deal with these problems, he claimed that they should not become accustomed to such horrors.
In late July of this year, a French parliamentary inquiry commission concluded a report damming the French intelligence system for its failure to halt the November attacks and investigating the creation of a body similar to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center. It discusses how the intelligence community in France needs to be revamped to focus on fighting terrorism. The commission also found that the state of emergency has had only a “limited impact” on the security situation, mainly because it cannot locate and apprehend individuals who lack an existing record.
As an American student studying abroad in Toulouse, France, I witness the impact of these policy shifts on a daily basis. All day, army soldiers in combat gear patrol the streets and join police officers searching bags at metro stations, at the airport, etc. A recent visit to Paris confirmed that the security situation echoes that of Toulouse and of other large French cities. All foreigners must carry a passport copy and visa around at all times, while French nationals must also have identification on them. At the Institut d’Études Politiques (the Political Science Institute of Toulouse), constitutional law students learn about the legal parameters of the current state of emergency. It is so ingrained now for these students that the tone of the class is matter of fact and does not question the practices.
The timeless debate on how to balance privacy and security in a democracy is magnified in France, as rising tension threatens the nation’s unity against terrorism. These emergency provisions parallel the general idea of the 2001 U.S. PATRIOT Act. Just as the American public questioned the benefits this invasion of privacy yielded, the French are now raising similar points. This could be exactly what ISIS hopes to gain - to divide the country and to undermine the public’s trust in its democratic system and, on a larger scale, the Western world.
It will be interesting to see whether or not this act serves as a model for other countries in a heightened time of concern about terrorism. With the French presidential election coming up in April and May of 2017, all eyes will be on the new leader’s homeland security policy. When will the French government feel safe enough to end its longstanding and largely ineffective state of emergency?
Kristin Erickson is a junior at Dickinson College, where she studies International Studies and French.
