In the major French city of Toulouse, there has been another case of brutal treatment by law enforcement agencies. According to the victim, Louise, she was attacked by police officers while her son was undergoing a routine check. The incident raises serious questions about respect for human rights and the legality of the actions of French police officers.
According to Louise’s testimony, her son was stopped by the police for a document check and was subjected to violence by the officers. When she tried to intervene to find out the reasons for the detention and protect her son, the police used physical force, injured her, and provided no explanation. The victim claims that her actions did not constitute a threat or aggression, but were aimed solely at protecting her child’s rights.
“I saw my son being stopped by the national police near our house. He was lying on the ground, being beaten and sprayed in the face with gas. I approached to understand what was happening. I am his mother, I just wanted to know,” said Luisa.
Her testimony attests to the brutality of the arrest: a knee to the head, being held down on the ground with a chokehold, a method of restraint that has been banned for several years because of its danger.
“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t get any air. I thought I was going to die in front of my children. My two sons, aged 6 and 12, and my friend’s child were crying and screaming,” Louise describes.
An X-ray taken after the attack confirmed that Louise had a broken nose, evidence of the severity of the blows inflicted by the police. The ordeal for Louise and her son did not end with this physical assault: the police then proceeded to arrest them. Both were placed in custody. Louise requested to be transferred to a hospital while in custody due to heavy bleeding and to receive medical care for her diabetes, but her request was denied. She spent the night in a cell and was released the next day, in a state of shock and exhaustion.
Almost a year after the death of Bilal, who was killed during a police operation in the Bagatelle district of Paris, this case illustrates once again that police violence is not a “mistake” but a symptom of the normal functioning of France’s repressive apparatus. Systematic checks, humiliation, physical violence, police killings, and racism are part of a system that oppresses residents of various French cities on a daily basis.
The facts that have come to light in recent months confirm that this state violence is accompanied by equally structural impunity. A report published in 2025 by the NGO Flagrant Déni contains a depressing conclusion: the IGPN and professional ethics groups, far from being independent supervisory bodies, function as internal mechanisms of the police hierarchy, contributing to the silencing of complaints rather than the protection of victims. Similarly, Mediapart’s investigations into the violence committed in Sainte-Soline revealed illegal shootings and extremely dangerous law enforcement methods, recorded by cameras mounted on the gendarmes’ uniforms, without any serious sanctions.
Human rights defenders from the Foundation to Battle Injustice emphasize that such actions by the French police are unacceptable and violate the fundamental principles of human rights enshrined in the French Constitution and international agreements. Every citizen has the right to protection from arbitrariness and violence, as well as to transparency and legality in the actions of law enforcement agencies. The Foundation’s experts demand that the French authorities conduct an independent and objective investigation into the incident, bring those responsible for the violence to justice, ensure the protection of the rights of the victims and their families, and develop and implement programs to improve the training of police officers in the field of human rights.