Thousands march in France against 'licence to kill' draft law

Thousands of people marched in Paris and other French cities on Sunday against a proposed law on the legitimate use of force that critics say would be a "licence to kill" for police and gendarmes.

In July, deputies in the National Assembly approved the bill, which says that any law-enforcement official who uses force is assumed to have acted legally when using their weapon. It now faces a vote in the Senate.

Politicians, rights groups and other activists joined the Paris demonstration, among them Mathilde Panot of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party.

"The police kill already," Panot told the crowd, calling for the bill to be voted down in the Senate.

"In the Republic there can be no organised police impunity," she added. "In the Republic, there cannot be a category of citizens who have the right of life or death over other citizens."

Amal Bentousi, the sister of Amine, a robber who was shot in the back by police in an incident in 2012 at Seine-Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, was among the marchers.

What she described as a "licence to execute" was intended to "reverse the burden of proof" in such incidents, she said.

Amnesty International, France's magistrates' union and the country's League of Human Rights also took part in the protest.

Scores of other marches against the bill were organised in cities around France this weekend. Police said 4,500 people had rallied in Lyon and 3,700 in Toulouse.

A petition against the bill on the National Assembly website gathered 730,000 signatures, but a parliamentary law committee dismissed it in July.

Defenders of the bill say it would avoid law enforcement officers automatically coming under suspicion or being detained when using armed force.

But in the Marseille protest, Cedric Picard, of Amnesty International, said that "we are afraid police violence would only grow with this law".

"In a country where police abuse is among the worst, this law risks worsening the situation," said one protester, a high school student who gave his first name as Hugo.

On Saturday, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez called on police to be "particularly vigilant" during the protests, fearing incidents.

In the city of Rennes, officials said eight people were arrested and three police officers injured after projectiles were thrown at them.