France PM: Curfews to stem riots

France PM: Curfews to stem riots

Monday, November 7, 2005;
Posted: 10:06 p.m. EST (03:06 GMT)
PARIS, France (CNN) -- Following 11 days of violence
that have rocked France, Prime Minister Dominique
de Villepin said Monday that the government will
deploy more police and will take the unprecedented
step of allowing mayors to declare curfews in French
cities.
In addition, in an interview on the private TF1 channel,
de Villepin said that France must do more to empower
the mayors of its cities, provide training, especially for
those who drop out of school, and create a climate that
puts an end to discrimination.
De Villepin's remarks came on a day marked by the
first death caused by the violence.
Jean Jacques Le Chenadec, 61, a resident of the Paris
suburb of Stains in the region of Seine-Saint Denis, died
from injuries suffered outside his apartment building
Friday night, a ministry spokesman said. He had been
hospitalized in a coma since the attack.
The violence has spread to poor neighborhoods across
France, shocking French society.
"The response of the government is firmness,"
said de Villepin. He said that Monday night 8,000 police
backed up by 1,500 reserve police will be deployed to
quell the violence.
De Villepin said that so far more than 1,200 arrests
had been made. He blamed some of the violence
on "criminal networks" but said much of it was
carried out by "gangs of very young youths" who feel
they have suffered discrimination and depravation.
In addition, said de Villepin, acting under a 1955 law,
city leaders would be able to "apply a curfew to ensure
a return to peace and calm."
Asked who was causing the violence, the prime minister
responded, "They are delinquents."
De Villepin said young people in France, 57,000 of
whom are on the rolls of the long-term unemployed,
"must be given hope."
He said the government had a three-point plan.
The first point, he said, was to empower mayors who
had seen their authority eroded so that they
"have the authority to restore order."
In addition, he said, training must be provided so that
at 14 children who no longer wish to continue in the
school system can be trained to find jobs.
"I hope that we can meet them, assess their situation,
and within three months offer a contract for training,"
said de Villepin. "Everyone must find a solution."
De Villepin said he doubted the troubles could be
blamed on the French government attitude towards
Islam and the French law forbidding Muslim girls to
wear veils in public schools.
"Discrimination is the last point we must not ignore,"
said the prime minister. In conversations, young people
from France's poor suburbs told of suffering from feeling
different, he said.
"We must struggle against discrimination," he said.
"Everyone's behavior must change. ... We must have
a welcoming republic where everyone must be respected."
The riots began after two youths of North African descent
were electrocuted when they hid in an electric power
station, believing they were being followed by police.
De Villepin said he had spoken with the families of the
youths and had promised them transparency in the
investigation. He said that early indications were
that police were not following the two.
He said the investigation was continuing but that it
was certain that a nearby mosque had not been
targeted by police.
Even before de Villepin's announcement, officials in
the riot-hit Paris suburban town of Raincy said they were
preparing to enforce a nighttime curfew

LINK FOR MORE INFO:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/07/france.riots/index.html