French police investigate injuries to teenagers in school protests

French police have opened internal investigations into 36 allegations of officer violence during weeks of protests that have blockaded hundreds of high schools across France.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who oversees the police, told the Senate the cases include four children allegedly mutilated by explosive weapons and six others who sustained significant injuries. Lawyers and rights groups said several teenagers suffered severe injuries from police weapons, with some wounds described as resembling those seen in war. The Guardian

One case involves Evan, a 15-year-old carpentry student who had a hand blown off by a police stun grenade outside a school protest in Lens, northern France, on 5 October. He lost his left hand and several fingers from his right hand and remained in hospital. His lawyer, Bertrand Wattez, said the injuries resemble war injuries and that the family has filed a criminal complaint.

Another case involves Eden, 14, who suffered two jaw fractures, the loss of bottom teeth and broken top teeth near a school protest in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône after allegedly being hit by a shot from a grenade launcher. Her lawyer, Elsa Marcel, said the shot was fired from 1.5 metres away and described it as the equivalent of war weaponry. The family filed a legal complaint for attempted murder, and an officer in the case was suspended and placed under official investigation.

In a third case, an officer in Tours was charged with aggravated battery after Maël, a 16-year-old vocational high school student, lost the use of his eye allegedly after a shot from a rubber-bullet launcher. The officer denies the charges.

France was in the fourth week of the youth protest movement in October. Students demanded the replacement of absent teachers and repairs to run-down school buildings. Earlier protests in September also raised class sizes, exhausting timetables and staff shortages.

Lawyers and rights groups said an unprecedented number of children have been held in police custody, with some reporting being hit or racially insulted. Several lawyers denounced physical violence, insults and attempted humiliation in custody.

The scale of the unrest has been large. Police had arrested 6,877 people, mostly minors, in more than two weeks of protest as of 10 October. Reuters Prime Minister Lecornu told lawmakers that at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff had been injured in clashes. The United Nations said it was following the school protests with concern. Le Monde