7 posts tagged “france”

Posted: 02 Jul 2009 04:54 AM PDT (Via BoingBoing)
Chris sez,

In France, there's no provision for monitoring ethnicity under the law. This is not an altogether bad thing, but it makes it impossible for anyone to get data about police 'ethnic profiling' [what us Brits call 'racial discrimination'] in the way that they treat members of visible minorities.
With no official data to go on, and no official co-operation, French researchers surreptitiously staked out areas of heavy police presence, and then noted the ethnicity of people stopped, before approaching them and conducting their own follow-up interviews. Their methodology needed to be pretty robust to make sure that this rather innovative way of collecting data did not bias the sample.
The results are pretty conclusive: even allowing for the nature of the population in the public space, if you are of Black appearance, you are more than six times more likely to be stopped than in you look White. People who look like Arabs are more than seven times more likely than Whites to be stopped.
What's to be done? The report makes a number of practical suggestions.
Profiling Minorities: A Study of Stop-and-Search Practices in Paris (PDF) (Thanks, Chris!)

(thanks, Presurfer)

The Père-Lachaise Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in the city of Paris, France. It is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. The cemetery takes its name from Père François de la Chaise, the confessor of King Louis XIV.

There are many famous people burried at the cemetery, like Sarah Bernhardt, Georges Bizet, Maria Callas, Frédéric Chopin, Yves Montand, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Oscar Wilde.

Take a virtual tour of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery.

(via Nag on the Lake)

Via: MSNBC / Reuters:

“The Edvige database has no place in a democracy,” wrote Michel Pezet, a lawyer and former member of a body charged with protecting French citizens from electronic prying, in Thursday’s edition of the newspaper Le Monde.

“There is nothing in the decree that sets limits or a framework. Whether the database is used with or without moderation depends only on orders from up high. The electronic Bastille is upon us,” he wrote.

He was referring to the notorious Paris fortress in which French kings could arbitrarily imprison opponents until it was stormed on July 14, 1789, at the start of the French Revolution.

The decree says the aim is to centralize and analyze data on people aged 13 or above who are active in politics or labor unions, who play a significant institutional, economic, social or religious role, or who are “likely to breach public order.”

The information that can be collected includes addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, physical appearance, behavioral traits, fiscal and financial records, and details about people who have personal ties with the subject.

Critics say this means the police can store data on people’s ethnic origin, sexual preference or intimate relationships.

Cluster munitions kill children and other civilians long after wars are over--and this week, we have a chance to ban them. 116 countries are in the final stages of negotiation on a cluster bomb ban -- but some are trying to water down the treaty with loopholes, exceptions, and delays.

Our information is that the delegations obstructing a strong treaty in the last few days include the UK, France, Germany, South Africa, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland, so messages to these leaders will be particularly valuable.

A worldwide outcry for a strong treaty is needed now. The treaty will be signed Thursday--so add your voice by using the tool below to send a message to government leaders:

To see if your country makes, stockpiles, or uses cluster bombs, click here. Or click here to see a video message from a cluster bomb victim.