自殺者急増の仏警察官らがデモ　労働条件の改善を要求

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】フランス首都パリに2日、警察官数万人が集結し、労働条件の改善を求めて抗議デモを行った。その背景には、同国警察官の自殺が急増していることに加え、警察が過度の武力行使に及んでいるとする疑惑の目が向けられ、士気の低下につながっていることがある。（写真は仏パリで行われた、警察官らによる「怒りの行進」）
　デモ主催者は、全国の警察職員１５万人のうち、２万７０００人が参加したと推計しており、警察によるデモとしては近年最大規模となった。
　同国では、政府の政策に抗議する「ジレ・ジョーヌ（黄色いベスト）」運動がここ１年ほど毎週続いており、そのデモは暴力行為に発展することも多い。
　「怒りの行進」と銘打たれたこの警察によるデモは、ジレ・ジョーヌ運動との対峙（たいじ）を強いられてきた警察官らの間に募るいら立ちを反映したものとなった。
　バスチーユ広場に私服で集まり、パリ東部を歩いた警察官の多くが、政府と国民のいずれからのねぎらいも支持もないと不満を訴えた。
　警察労働組合は「これは政府と大統領に対する厳しい警告だ。われわれは今すぐ、回答と具体的な行動を求める」としている。
　同日のデモは、今年に入ってから自ら命を絶つ警察官の数が急増している問題にも主眼を置いていた。
　内務省の統計では、昨年自殺した警察官は３５人だったが、警察組合によると今年に入ってこれまでに５２人が自殺したという。
　中部オーセールの機動隊に所属する勤続２０年という男性警察官はこの自殺急増の傾向について、「肉体的・精神的疲労」に加え、目標達成を求める上司からの圧力が原因になっているという見方を示した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/10/04-09:19）

Thousands of French police officers demonstrated in Paris Wednesday for better working conditions, against the backdrop of a spike in suicides in the force and allegations of police brutality that have sapped morale.
The demonstration was the biggest by the police in years, reflecting the frustration among officers after a year of battling weekly yellow vest protests that have regularly turned violent.
Many of the officers, who gathered in plainclothes at Bastille Square for a march of anger through eastern Paris, complained of a lack of recognition and support from both the state and the public.
We are the dregs of society, Frederic Govin, an officer from a riot police unit in northern France, told AFP bitterly.
Over the past few years the police have held several protests over violent attacks on officers during anti-government protests as well as during operations in high-rise housing estates, where youths periodically clash with the police.
A key theme in Wednesday's protest was the sharp rise this year in the number of police taking their own lives.
Cyril Benoit, an officer with 20 years of service, told AFP that the weekly yellow vest protests had stretched an already strained force to the limit.
In the past two years, one officer in his riot police unit in the central town of Auxerre committed suicide and another attempted to take her own life, he said.
So far this year 49 officers have killed themselves, up from a total of 35 in 2018, according to interior ministry figures.
Benoit blamed the malaise on physical and psychological fatigue as well as increased pressure from senior officers to meet targets.
There's always been a bit of pressure on the police but never like this, he said.
- Watching officers cry -
Under French law, the police are not allowed strike or demonstrate while on duty.
Some officers told AFP they had been given leave by their station chiefs to skip work to attend the protest.
I see colleagues crying, Antoine, a 40-year-old policeman with 15 years of crime-fighting to his name, told AFP.
He accused the government of failing to defend officers in the face of recurring allegations of brutality, particularly against yellow vest protesters, dozens of whom have been seriously injured by rubber bullets and stun grenades.
Television keeps replaying videos of (allegedly brutal) police actions but you don't see the paving stone that flew overhead seconds before, Antoine said.
The police have also opposed a major overhaul of the pensions system, which could some of their perks scrapped.
There is a deep sense of discontent, David Le Bars, general secretary of the SCPN-Unsa union said, describing an ailing force.
- Hiring pledge -
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has assured that the dangerous conditions faced by the police will be factored into the pension reforms.
He has also pointed to the money ploughed into the force under President Emmanuel Macron -- more than a billion euros since the centrist leader took office in 2017, according to the minister.
During campaigning for president Macron pledged to hire an extra 10,000 police over the course of his five-year term.
But the new recruits cannot come fast enough for a force facing 23 million unpaid overtime hours, according to a count by Le Parisien newspaper in mid-September.
In the past few years, the number of protests by the police -- once a rare event -- have increased.
In October 2016, hundreds of officers, some in uniform, staged wildcat protests in several cities over several consecutive nights after youths in a Paris suburb tried to set fire to a police car with two officers inside, seriously injuring them.
Earlier that year, a police car was also firebombed on the sidelines of a separate police demonstration over anti-police violence.