Council of Europe demands France to stop the use of rubber bullets

In a statement, the council’s human rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said that the French authorities should halt the use of LBDs during operations aimed at maintaining public order.

France uses the so-called defence ball launchers, known as LBDs, which can shoot 40-millimeter rubber projectiles that are considered non-lethal. This causes dozens of injuries to anti-government protesters in recent weeks.

Dunja Mijatovic also asked the government to review its regulations soon on the use of so-called intermediate weapons for riot control, to ensure they respect law enforcement’s primary task of protecting “citizens and their human rights.”

These rubber bullets were used by the Police for the weekly ‘yellow vest’ protests in Paris and other cities since November. This have often degenerated into clashes with police and vandalism.

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