French President Accused of Using Powers to ’Systematically’ Persecute Muslims

By Staff, MEE

France has been accused of systematically targeting its Muslim population with a raft of policies brought in by the office of President Emmanuel Macron to address so-called "separatism and Islamism."

A new report by British advocacy group Cage highlighted Macron's use of executive powers to create what it calls a "Systematic Obstruction" policy to target Muslim groups and institutions in France over the last four years.

Drafted in 2017, the policies initially aimed to address why foreign fighters had fled to Syria and Iraq from particular regions in France. They then morphed into a nationwide project aimed at addressing "Islamism" and "community withdrawal" across the country.

Since then, France has introduced a series of controversial laws that several human rights groups have deemed Islamophobic - including the anti-separatism law and imam charter.

The "Systematic Obstruction" policy is implemented by the executive branch of the state, whose task is to enforce the law and establish public policies.

The French policy operates, according to Cage, by putting maximum pressure on Muslim groups via the establishment of "department cells" in each of France's 101 government departments.

Cage says the systematic obstruction policy has been used to single out Muslim organizations and gives the state "vast powers to monitor and close institutions, unilaterally dissolve organizations and seize money under the pretense of preserving Republican values and combatting Islamism and/or separatism".

The group said the policy was used to justify the closure of at least a dozen mosques, hundreds of Muslim-owned businesses and charities, and the seizure of millions of euros worth of assets because of the alleged promotion of Islamism.

Among the organizations closed for allegedly promoting Islamist propaganda were the French Muslim charity Barakacity and the non-profit Collective against Islamophobia in France [CCIF], which monitored Islamophobic attacks across France. Both organizations deny the charges, but both remain dissolved.

Idriss Sihamedi, president of Barakacity, said Macron's policies were designed to make French Muslims compliant with the state.

"France has decided to target community leaders and has put every kind of pressure imaginable on people who want to defend Muslims," Sihamedi said in a statement.

"The message to French Muslims is: We are going to colonies your religion and Islam in France will be controlled by the interior ministry."

Cage used the report and a press conference in Paris on Wednesday to call for an immediate repeal of these powers.