The last time a French president declared "l'Etat d'urgence" it was because the banlieues were erupting in violence, with rioters burning public buildings and thousands of vehicles. That was in 2005, exactly ten years ago, under president Sarkozy.
The rioting had already gone on for nearly two weeks before the State of Emergency and curfew were declared. The specific intent at the time was to put a stop to the violence which was literally out of control.
Today?
Today we have a State of Emergency declared by President Hollande and signed by Prime Minister Valls, Interior Minister Cazeneuve, and Justice Minister Taubira. It's purpose? Someone should probably ask that question.
Theoretically it's related to the terrorist attacks on November 13 that killed 130 people and wounded, some very seriously, hundreds more. But most of the terrorists either killed themselves in the attacks or were killed in the ensuing firefights with police, so they should not be an immediate threat.
That networks of radical Islamists have been discovered to be operating basically in plain sight in the banlieues of Molenbeek, Saint Denis and elsewhere is not a surprise to anyone who has been following the development of Islamist terror in Europe. However, it appears to come as a major shock to France's and Belgium's leaders (who apparently imagined that all the other attacks were performed by lone wolves?). This shock was so great that they felt they had no choice but to declare a State of Emergency.
How is this State of Emergency being used?
Someone should probably ask this question.
So far, what we are seeing is that demonstrations are banned and ecological activists are being confined to house arrest on the eve of the biggest ecological summit in history.
It is not clear what this has to do with fighting terrorism.
As for the people being rounded up or investigated or phone tapped, we don't really have any information. Will they be jailed or released? Will charges be made public? What is France's policy concerning the 10,000+ people already identified on the famous "S" list for radicalism? How will France's policy change to provide better protection for its citizens?
Shrug.
Nearly all the terrorists had EU passports and were already known to the police, either for their criminal records, or for their radicalization, or for both. France actually has laws on the books for arresting, trying, and jailing people convicted of crimes, but these tend not to be applied. So the extra-judicial solution was apparently preferred. State of Emergency.
France is scheduled to hold important regional elections on December 6 and 13. This means that the campaigns and the actual voting will take place in a "State of Emergency" during which the politicians in power (whose parties are taking part in the elections) attribute to themselves the power to suspend normal rights in a time of massive surveillance and unconstitutional police actions.
This is the kind of behavior one expects from certain kinds of regimes, but, frankly, not from France.
