Iran Press/ Commentary: Since Tuesday night, following the death of 17-year-old French courier driver Nahel Merzouk, many French protested against his killing in different cities in France.
Violence raged, many protesters were arrested, many security forces and protesters were injured in clashes, and many cars were also set in a blaze. The protests have extended to Belgium as well.
The 17-year-old teenager's car was stopped by the police on Tuesday for violating the driving rules in Nanterre, the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris located some 11 km (6.8 mi) northwest of the center of Paris.
The police initially reported that one of the officers shot the teenager because he (Nahel) was trying to run over him (the police officer). Still, the contradictory story of a video of the incident published and confirmed by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) provided the ground for widespread protests in France.
According to the French prosecutor's office, the 38-year-old police officer who shot the unarmed teen is in custody and being interrogated for the deadly shooting.
First, unjustified violence by the French police is a critical issue in Nahel's death. The orchestrated false report of the police from the incident, interpreted as the "Americanization of the French police," is another tragedy recorded in the case of the angry policemen of France that fueled the anger of the French citizens.
Video of the killing of a 17-year-old Nahel by the police on social networks has raised concerns among the French people that the French police are following in the footsteps of the American police using unprovoked violence and killing people without any evidence.
Second, the disastrous killing of an Algerian-Moroccan descent exposed the issue of racism in France, which has raised concerns of the United Nations—the United Nations Human Rights Office worries about the deadly shooting that killed a French teenager.
However, Ravina Shamdasani, UN Human Rights Spokeswoman, said: "This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement."
At the same time, the UN rights office has demanded that protesters be treated humanely. In this regard, while emphasizing the importance of peaceful gatherings, the United Nations Human Rights Office asked the French authorities to respect the principles of compliance with the law, necessity, proportionality, non-discrimination, caution, and accountability when using force to deal with people in demonstrations.
French President Emmanuel Macron, instead of investigating the actual reasons for the shocking incident (the killing of a French-Moroccan teenager by the police) and the need to retaliate and take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, has tried to act as a projection blaming social networks for the current protests in France.
"Platforms and networks are playing a major role in the events of recent days," said Macron, emphasizing that restrictive measures would be implemented to remove provocative content on social networks. These networks must remove sensitive content and fulfill their responsibility.
Macron also urged social media firms to remove the "most sensitive" content about the rioting. He claimed video games played a role in the riots, which followed the fatal shooting of a teen by police on Tuesday.
"Platforms and networks are playing a major role in the events of recent days," Macron said.
The main issue is that without a fundamental change in the approaches and actions based on racism in French society, especially by the police, the possibility of repeating such incidents will still exist significantly.
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