Amnesty International: France limits rights and freedoms

France has deployed anti-terrorist measures within a state of emergency to curb peaceful protests, Amnesty International says. It adds that emergency laws were used not to protect civilians after the 2015 Paris attacks, but to restrict their human rights.

The report, titled 'A right not a threat: Disproportionate restrictions on demonstrations under the State of Emergency in France', was released by the human rights group on Wednesday.

"The multiple restrictions on public protest are an egregious example of the use of an emergency measure in pursuit of objectives unconnected with the specific purpose for which the current state of emergency was declared and extended; namely, preventing further violent attacks on the general population," the report said.

According to the report, between November 2015 and May 2017, police used emergency powers to ...