近日，法国政府公布了一项新的去极端化计划，针对监狱、学校和社交媒体等提出了60条改革措施，将教育、司法、科研、网络、企业等均纳入去极端化领域，以更好地预防极端思想的侵袭，保证法国国土安全。舆论分析，这一计划与以往政策不同的是，不再仅仅依靠社会力量，而是发动与之相关的多个专业领域，使其打破隔阂、产生联动，凸显了法国政府预防极端思想蔓延的新方向。
加强预防，实现跨部门联动
法国总理爱德华·菲利普2月23日在北方城市里尔公布的这一计划，围绕提高防范意识、扩大甄别范围、提高专业化水平、加强预判和评估等几大纲领展开，综合了法国内政部、国民教育部、司法部等数十个部门的相关政策和建议，对现行机制进行了推陈出新。法国总理府称，这一新计划与法国监狱管理、城市治理等主要政府工程并行不悖。“在打击恐怖主义行为的同时，也防范极端思想的蔓延”，正是该计划推出的主旨所在。
在新计划中，加强中小学等教学机构的防范意识是重中之重，尤其是私立学校。法国将在全国各类学校中加强价值观教育，通过发放资料和提供培训等方式，提高教学人员甄别受极端思想影响的年轻人的能力。法国政府还将向私立教学机构派驻特别督学团队。日前，法国参议院还通过了一项严格私人办学条件的法案，以预防恐怖主义性质教育机构的出现。
针对监狱中的极端分子，法国政府有意改变当前分散关押的策略，转而对其进行集中或隔离看管。根据新计划，法国今年将在全国各监狱中增设4个极端化评估区，加强对思想极端化在押人员的甄别，其中一个专门用于评估极端化倾向的普通犯人。根据评估结果，监狱可按照危险程度决定是否对其进行单独隔离，将其关押至特别设置的暴力犯人区或极端化预防区。据法国司法部介绍，法国将在78个监狱设立此类隔离区，为此将新增1500个床位，到今年年底至少设立450个。马赛、里昂和里尔三地将增设3个“极端分子个人区别对待区”，对在押极端分子进行个性化管理，防止其在监狱中传播极端思想。
法国还将与各大社交网络平台加强合作，计划通过自动识别和删除工具，在一个小时内清除恐怖主义宣传信息，避免年轻人受到网络恐怖主义的影响。此外，调离或辞退安全部门内出现极端化倾向的公职人员、对研究人员开放极端分子信息库以加强科学研究、提升地方行政和医疗机构预防极端化的专业水平等都是法国政府新计划中的主打措施。
恐袭频发，亟待扭转不利局面
法国舆论普遍认为，政府此前采取的去极端化政策收效甚微。从2014年4月的“反恐计划”到2016年5月的“反对极端化和恐怖主义行动计划”，法国政府不断加大政策力度，却未能有效阻止恐怖主义袭击。《费加罗报》近日发表社论称，以往的政策失效是政府急于求成、忽视专业性、草率行动的结果。
自2015年初以来，法国《查理周刊》总部、尼斯、巴黎等地相继发生恐袭事件，造成大量人员伤亡，恐袭成为法国社会难以愈合的伤口。法国舆论研究所去年底的民调显示，恐怖主义威胁直至今日仍是法国人不安全感的最大来源，92%的法国民众认为未来发生恐怖袭击的可能性仍然很高。
法国内政部长科隆25日表示，法国今年初以来已挫败两起恐怖袭击图谋，这两起袭击企图分别针对一个大型体育设施和军队人员。他强调，法国尚未“走出”恐怖主义阴影，恐袭风险仍将持续多年。
根据法国监狱机构的统计，在全法约7万名在押人员中，目前共有512名因涉恐行为入狱的服刑犯人，还有1139名普通犯人被认定为思想倾向极端化。截至2月20日，法国“预防恐怖主义性质极端化行动”监视档案中记录在册的人员达到近2万名，其中2000人被评估为危险人物，10多名曾参与实施恐怖袭击的极端分子在未来2年内将陆续刑满出狱。此外，近年来，法国在中东地区的极端分子陆续回流，其中包括不少妇女和青少年。截止到2017年11月，这一数字达到300余人，对这类人尤其是青少年极端分子的安置和接管问题成为一大难题。
褒贬不一，新计划成效有待检验
法国媒体资深评论员让—米歇尔·埃尔维格分析认为，法国政府过去主要依靠社会组织等力量来帮助个人或家庭消除极端化倾向，缺少政府统筹和专业经验，甚至发生多起公共资金挪用事件，导致政策效果不佳。尤其是监狱管理不善，牢房成为了极端化思想传播的温床，一些普通罪犯逐渐转化成极端分子。他认为，新计划在动员各方参与和改变监狱管理等方面的措施值得期待。
法国《世界报》评论称，在恐怖主义阴影挥之不去的当下，这项新计划不只是为了将极端分子从激进思想中拯救出来，而是针对极端化思想的蔓延采取“全方位的预防战略”。一些观点认为，该计划突出了预防的重要性，内容全面细致，很多措施有的放矢，如对青少年极端分子的接管、解雇出现极端化倾向的公务人员、加强对私立学校的监管以及对社交媒体言论的引导等都是解决极端化思想蔓延的正确方向。
不过，也有舆论对新措施的有效性提出质疑。新计划具体如何实施、预算如何安排等细节内容尚未出炉，长期跟踪极端化问题的法国参议员纳塔莉·古莱担心，法国政府对新计划的施行没有后续的评估和跟进措施，缺乏具体的日程表，可能会变成“空头支票”。
此外，也有社会学专家指出，这一计划没有针对极端化案例多发的弱势地区采取经济或者社会保障类措施，从长期来看，无法真正地解决问题。新的计划过于强调“打压”，缺少了“融合”的内容。目前的“打压”措施可能导致一些年轻人变成真正的极端分子，恐怕适得其反。如何帮助极端化的年轻人完成“自我救赎”，融入到社会集体中，重新就业和生活，值得政府做更长远的考虑。
France - Counter Extremism Project
https://www.counterextremism.com/countries/france
France has experienced a series of deadly terrorist attacks in recent years, including the July 2016 Bastille Day attack in Nice, the November 2015 ISIS attacks in Paris, and the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket attacks.
These attacks have collectively resulted in the deaths of more than 200 people, and have spurred France to adopt a variety of preemptive and reactive counterterrorism measures. Among France’s efforts, the government has established and repeatedly extended its national state of emergency, bolstered its counterterrorism legislation, conducted a series of arrests, approved the creation of a National Guard, and begun to launch de-radicalization centers around the country.
Overview
The first major terrorist attack on French soil in recent years took place on January 7, 2015, when assailants operating on behalf of al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch stormed the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo with assault rifles, killing 12 people. In the coming days, an associate of the gunmen killed five people in the name of ISIS: one policewoman and four patrons at a kosher supermarket in Paris. (Sources: BBC News, CNN)
The Charlie Hebdo attacks were the deadliest on French soil for 50 years, but even they were surpassed. On November 13, 2015, eight ISIS gunmen and suicide bombers targeted a variety of locations throughout Paris and its environs—cafes, restaurants, the national stadium, and a concert hall—collectively killing 130 people and wounding 350 more in the deadliest attack on French soil since World War II. (Sources: Washington Post, New York Times)
France is the largest source of Western fighters to Iraq and Syria, with an estimated 2,000 French nationals having traveled to the conflict zone as of May 2016.
Since then, ISIS has continued to inspire French residents to terror. On July 14, 2016, a Tunisian-born resident of Nice drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day at Nice’s beachside promenade, killing 86 people and wounding more than 430 others. The attack came between two other ISIS-claimed attacks: on June 13, a convicted terrorist stabbed two police officers at their home in Magnanville, and on July 26, two ISIS assailants stormed the Saint-Etienne parish church in Normandy, killing an elderly priest. (Sources: Guardian, Reuters, New York Times, NBC News)
These attacks and other attempts—including a September 2016 attempt by female jihadists to explode gas canisters near the Notre Dame cathedral—have highlighted the major strain on France’s counterterrorism infrastructure as it struggles to monitor an estimated 15,000 terrorism suspects in the country. France is the largest source of Western fighters to Iraq and Syria, with an estimated 2,000 French nationals having traveled to the conflict zone as of May 2016. The country also suffers from a major radicalization problem within its prisons, where an estimated 1,400 inmates are believed to be radicalized. (Sources: Voice of America, Atlantic, France24)
These attacks have also spurred France to systematically confront the threat from violent extremism. In January 2015, the government launched its Stop-Djihadisme (“Stop Jihadism”) campaign, which includes online resources to help French citizens identify and report terrorist suspects, as well as educate French citizens on the scale of the danger and what to do in the event of an attack. In an effort to confront the threat from prison radicalization, the government began an experiment to quarantine major terrorist suspects from the rest of the prison population. The government announced an end to the short-lived experiment in late October 2016, after concerns emerged that the program would serve to deepen radicalization amongst extremist suspects, rather than contain it. (Sources: Washington Post, Al Arabiya, Voice of America, Wall Street Journal)
In September 2016, the government opened the first of 12 planned de-radicalization centers in a small town west of Paris. This de-radicalization program, unlike the prison experiment, works to rehabilitate individuals who may be early on the path to radicalization, though it has also seen setbacks. In January 2017, one of the program’s participants was arrested after it was discovered that he had previously attempted to travel to Syria, speaking to the program’s vetting and security constraints. As part of its effort to combat terrorism at home and internationally, France has meanwhile approved legislation to create a National Guard, which is expected to include up to 85,000 personnel by 2018. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has named counterterrorism as his primary foreign policy goal. (Sources: Le Monde, Gouvernement.fr, Reuters)
Radicalization and Foreign Fighters
Recruitment and Radicalization in France
French jihadists recruit assailants both online and in person. In November 2014, ISIS released a recruiting video aimed at French Muslims, calling on jihadists to execute attacks in France if they could not make it to ISIS-held territory. The group has also launched a French language magazine, Dar al Islam. Girls from Marseilles and elsewhere in southern France have left the country to join ISIS. Many were radicalized and recruited online via propaganda videos targeting teenage girls. In late 2016, France uncovered and arrested an all-female ISIS cell that had attempted a car bomb attack close to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. According to the cell’s leader, the women had originally sought to attack the Eiffel Tower. (Sources: CNN, Jerusalem Post, CNN, Daily Mail)
In addition to online radicalization and incitement, Islamist radicalization also often transpires in prisons, where Muslims constitute a disproportionate percentage of the inmate population, and where an estimated 1,400 people are believed to be radicalized. There are a number of notorious French-born jihadists who have allegedly been radicalized in France’s prisons, including:
- Charlie Hebdo assailant Chérif Kouachi and kosher supermarket gunman Amédy Coulibaly. The two assailants spent significant time in prison before they executed attacks in January 2015. The two are reported to have met each other in prison at some point between 2005 and 2006.
- Mehdi Nemmouche, who attacked the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014. Nemmouche spent five years in a French prison for robbery and was “known to have moved in radical Islamist circles.”
- 2012 Toulouse gunman Mohammed Merah. Merah had also engaged in petty crime—theft and driving offenses—that landed him in prison. It was within France’s prisons that Merah began reading the Quran and, according to reports, may have been radicalized.
(Sources: Daily Mail, CNN, Taipei Times, Economist, Reuters, Washington Post, Al Arabiya, New York Times, Guardian, BBC News, New York Times)
Foreign Fighters
France is the largest producer of foreign fighters out of any EU country. According to French officials, an estimated 2,000 French nationals have joined ISIS and other Syrian jihadist groups to date. (Sources: Soufan Group, Atlantic)
France has long been the site of deadly terrorist attacks from returning foreign terrorist fighters. French national Mehdi Nemmouche joined up with ISIS abroad before he returned to Europe and executed his May 2014 shooting attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. Charlie Hebdo assailant Chérif Kouachi and his brother Said both allegedly traveled to Yemen to train with al-Qaeda’s affiliate there, AQAP. Several suspects connected to the November 2015 Paris attacks—including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Bilal Hadfi, and Foued Mohamed-Aggad—are also reported to have spent time in Syria with ISIS before returning to carry out attacks. (Sources: Le Figaro, L’Express, Telegraph, Reuters)
In 2016, France witnessed fewer extremists attempting to leave the country to join ISIS and other terrorist groups abroad. However, this trend has prompted concerns that radicalized individuals from France are increasingly electing to stay in Europe to carry out domestic attacks, as per various ISIS recommendations. Indeed, France has been the scene of several major domestic terrorist attacks and attempts that did not involve returning foreign fighters. These included the deadly July 2016 Nice attack—which left 86 people dead and more than 430 others wounded—as well as various low-sophistication murders, including attacks targeting French police and clergy. (Source: U.S. Department of State)
Major Extremist and Terrorist Incidents
July 2016 Attack in Nice
On July 14, 2016, at approximately 10:45 p.m. local time, a 31-year-old Tunisian-born resident of Nice drove a large white truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day at Nice’s Promenade des Anglais, killing 86 people and wounding more than 430 others. Among the dead were 10 children, as well as foreign citizens, including two Germans, two Americans, two Tunisians, and one Russian. (Sources: Guardian, New York Times)
The armed assailant, identified as Tunis-born truck driver Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, drove two kilometers down Nice’s seafront promenade using a rented, 19-ton refrigerated truck, swerving to maximize his deadly impact, according to witness reports. After exchanging gunfire with police officers outside Nice’s Hyatt hotel, the suspect was neutralized in the passenger seat of the vehicle. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was discovered to be carrying a fake automatic pistol, two fake assault rifles, and a nonfunctioning grenade, along with a mobile phone and identity documents. (Sources: New York Times, Guardian)
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was reportedly not on any terror watch list. He was, however, known to authorities due to a history of “threats, violence, and petty theft between 2010 and 2016,” according to French prosecutor François Molins. In January 2016, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was sentenced to six months in prison for assaulting a driver. (Sources: Guardian, Wall Street Journal)
On July 16, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The ISIS-linked Amaq News Agency, citing an unidentified source, stated that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel “was a soldier of the Islamic State,” and that “the operation was done in response to calls to target nations of coalition states fighting the Islamic State.” In response to the attack, France has extended its national state of emergency, repeatedly extending it into 2017. In October 2017, France is scheduled to debate a bill that would make permanent certain elements of France’s national state of emergency. (Sources: Guardian, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Counter Extremism Project, France 24)
November 2015 Paris Attacks
On November 13, 2015, eight assailants attacked sites throughout Paris: the Stade de France, the Bataclan concert hall, and restaurants in central Paris: Le Carillon, Le Petit Cambodge, La Belle Equipe, Cafe Bonne Bière, Comptoir Voltaire, and La Casa Nostra. The death toll was staggering—130 victims and more than 350 wounded, more than 100 of whom were at some point in serious condition. For months, one suspect tied to the attacks—Salah Abdeslam—remained at large. Abdeslam was captured by Belgian police in a raid in March 2016. He was extradited from Belgium to France shortly thereafter and is currently on trial in Paris on charges of murder and terrorist-related charges. (Sources: New York Times, CNN, Guardian, New York Times, CNN, CNN, BBC News)
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, calling them “the first of a storm.”
The November 2015 Paris attacks exposed a plot with international roots, and was later discovered to have been directed by suspected ISIS terror chief Abu Suleyman al-Firansi. At least one suspect, known as “Ahmad al Muhammad,” carried a Syrian passport, believed to be counterfeit, and traveled through Greece; another, Ismaël Omar Mostefaï, was a French ex-convict who was arrested for low-level crimes from 2004 to 2010; his suspected accomplice, French-born Samy Amimour, was the subject of a police wanted order; Foued Mohamed-Aggad had reportedly traveled to Syria in 2013. The local coordinator of the attack was identified as Belgian-born Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is believed to have been under the command of Paris attacks organizer Oussama Atar. A number of the suspects—including Abaaoud, Bataclan assailant Bilal Hadfi, Stade de France assailant Ibrahim Abdelsam, and suspected accomplice Salah Abdeslam—were born in Belgium. At least three of the suspects—Abaaoud, Hadfi, and Aggad—are understood to have spent time in Syria before traveling back to Europe. (Sources: New York Times, CNN, Guardian, New York Times, CNN, CNN, BBC News, Associated Press, ProPublica)
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, calling them “the first of a storm.” Witnesses reported one assailant shouting “Allahu Akbar” at the Bataclan music venue. One of the attackers reportedly told captives, “It’s Hollande’s fault, […] he should not have intervened in Syria.” In response to ISIS’s claim of responsibility, former French President Francois Hollande scaled up airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria. Hollande had labeled the attacks “an act of war” and declared a national state of emergency—the first since 2005—which was originally supposed to last for three months, but has since been extended into 2017. Following the terror attacks, France and Belgium conducted a series of raids and crackdowns on suspected jihadist cells, seizing advanced weaponry and heightening scrutiny in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, an alleged hotbed of radicalization and criminal behavior. (Sources: Le Figaro, Guardian)
The coordinated set of attacks, while horrifying, do not come without precedent. For years before the November assault, France suffered through violent attacks by Islamic extremists as well as nationalist terror groups and right-wing extremist groups. In January 2015, France suffered the worst attack on its soil in 50 years, when gunmen attacked the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and later killed shoppers at a kosher supermarket. (Source: Le Figaro)
Charlie Hebdo Attack
On January 7, 2015, two gunmen—brothers Chérif Kouachi and Said Kouachi—stormed the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, claiming to be associated with AQAP, according to witness reports. Witnesses report that the assailants cried out “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and announced, “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.” The assailants forced themselves into the Charlie Hebdo building and killed twelve people, including the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Stéphane Charbonnier, magazine cartoonists, other staff, and two police officers. (Sources: Guardian, International Business Times, CNN, BBC News, BBC News, CNN, France24, Reuters, New York Times)
The Kouachi brothers had a history of engaging in criminal and terrorist activities. Before the Charlie Hebdoattack, Chérif had been arrested multiple times on jihadist-related charges. In 2005, he was arrested while attempting to travel to Syria to fight U.S. forces in Iraq. In 2008, he was arrested, charged, and convicted for his involvement in a local jihadist network in Paris. In 2010, he was arrested and charged for plotting to help former member of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) Smain Ait Ali Belkacem escape from prison. In 2011, Chérif’s brother and fellow assailant, Said Kouachi, allegedly traveled to Yemen to link up with AQAP. It was then that he reportedly met with notorious AQAP cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. (Sources: Guardian, International Business Times, CNN, BBC News, BBC News, CNN, France24, Reuters, New York Times)
Following the Charlie Hebdo attack, assailants Chérif and Said Kouachi fled the scene and traveled to Dammartin-en-Goele, where on January 9 they besieged a printing building and took two hostages. One escaped and the other was freed when French armed forces stormed the compound, killing the Kouachi brothers. (Sources: Guardian, International Business Times, CNN, BBC News, BBC News, CNN, France24, Reuters, New York Times)
Kosher Supermarket Hostage Attack
The Charlie Hebdo shooting was followed by two related acts of violence in Paris on January 8 and 9, 2015. On January 8, a French police officer was shot. On January 9, a gunman attacked a kosher supermarket and took multiple hostages. Both acts were carried out by extremist assailant Amédy Coulibaly, who pledged allegiance to ISIS in a video that emerged after the shootings. In the video, Coulibaly admitted links to the Charlie Hebdo attackers and also claimed responsibility for a planting a car bomb in Paris. Police have linked Coulibaly to a shooting that severely wounded a jogger on January 7. (Sources: Daily Mail, Guardian, CNN, L’Obs, Guardian, Guardian)
Coulibaly was a convicted armed robber and drug dealer whose arrest history dates back to 2001. He was a convert to Islam and a suspected Islamist who is believed to have been radicalized in prison, where he converted to Islam and met Charlie Hebdo attacker Chérif Kouachi at some point between 2005 and 2006. Kouachi and Coulibaly share a mentor: Islamist prisoner Djamel Beghal, a terrorist convicted of plotting to bomb the U.S. embassy in Paris. Like Kouachi, Coulibaly was arrested in 2010 for plotting to break former GIA member Smain Ait Ali Belkacem out of prison. (Sources: Daily Mail, Guardian, CNN, L’Obs, Guardian, Guardian)
On January 9, French armed forces attempted a rescue mission, storming the kosher supermarket and killing Amédy Coulibaly. Coulibaly’s live-in partner, Hayat Boumedienne, is the second suspect in the kosher supermarket attack. Boumedienne has reportedly fled to Syria. (Sources: Daily Mail, Guardian, CNN, L’Obs, Guardian, Guardian)
History of Violent Islamist Groups in France
From 1994 to 1996, France was the victim of a series of attacks by the Algerian-based Armed Islamic Group (GIA). In December 1994, the GIA hijacked a French airplane in Algeria, allegedly with the intention of crashing the aircraft into the Eiffel Tower or blowing it up over Paris. Through 1995 and 1996, the GIA carried out a series of bombings in France that in total killed 16 and wounded over 300. These bombings mainly targeted France’s transit infrastructure, including the Paris metro and rail system, though one car bomb was set off near a Jewish school, wounding 14. (Sources: New York Times, Le Figaro, New York Times)
Violent Islamist ‘Lone Wolf’ Operations
France has been the victim of a series of lone wolf attacks in recent years. The attacks include:
- November 2011: Charlie Hebdo’s offices are firebombed, although no one is injured.
- March 2012: Over the course of 11 days, French-born Mohammed Merah goes on a shooting spree in Montauban and Toulouse in southern France, killing seven and injuring five.
- May 2013: A convert to Islam stabs French soldier Cedric Cordiez.
- May 2014: French-born jihadist Mehdi Nemmouche kills four at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.
- January 2015: On January 7, Cherif and Said Kouachi launch a deadly assault on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 in the name of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). In the days following the attack, gunman Amedy Coulibaly goes on a shooting rampage, killing a policewoman before taking and killing hostages at a kosher supermarket in the name of ISIS.
- June 2015: On June 26 a man, believed to be suspect Yassine Salhi, drives into an American-owned gas factory in southeastern France. He throws gas canisters in the yard outside, and decapitates a man (Salhi’s boss), covering the victim’s head in the Muslim declaration of faith, “There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet.” A flag emblazoned with Islamist inscriptions is found at the site of the attack.
- August 2015: On August 21 a man, believed to be suspect Ayoub El Khazzani, boards a Thalys train from Amsterdam to France armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, pistol, ammunition, and a box cutter. Two U.S. servicemen and two Europeans observe the suspect preparing to attack and intervene, preventing the suspect from inflicting what then French President Francois Hollande said could have been “a true carnage.” El Kahzani was kept on an international watch list and had reportedly traveled to Syria in 2014. (Sources: Telegraph, New York Times)
- January 2016: On January 11, a Turkish-Kurd teenager attacks a Jewish teacher with a machete in Marseille, allegedly in the name of ISIS.
- June 2016: On June 13, convicted terrorist Larossi Abballa stabs two married police officers in their home in Magnanville in an attack claimed by ISIS. Abballa holds the couple’s three-year-old son hostage and live streams the murder of his parents to Facebook before police storm the home and rescue the child. (Source: NBC News)
- July 14, 2016: Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian-born resident of Nice, drives a large white truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the French Riviera city of Nice, killing 86 people and wounding more than 430 others. The armed assailant drives 2 kilometers into a crowd on Nice’s promenade before he is neutralized by police during a standoff. ISIS claims responsibility for the attack through the Amaq News Agency on July 16. (Sources: Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal)
- July 26, 2016: Two assailants—19-year-old French citizens Abdel-Malik Nabil Petitjean and Adel Kermiche—storm the Saint-Etienne parish church in Normandy, slaying an elderly priest with a blade and taking five people hostage before being shot dead by police. ISIS’s Amaq News Agency claims that the teenagers pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before carrying out the attack. (Sources: Reuters, New York Times, NBC News, Reuters)
- February 3, 2017: A man wielding a machete yells “Allahu Akbar” and lunges at police and soldiers outside the Louvre in Paris. A French soldier shoots at the alleged assailant, seriously wounding him. No one is killed. (Source: Reuters, Independent)
- April 20, 2017: A gunman—named by prosecutors as French national Karim Cheurfi— opens fire on policemen at the Champs-Élysées street in Paris, killing a police officer and critically wounding two others before being shot dead. ISIS claims responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by one of its soldiers. (Sources: France24, CNN, TIME, Independent, Telegraph)
- June 19, 2017: An armed assailant rams his vehicle at a police car at the Champs-Élysées street in Paris, seriously injuring himself but leaving no other casualties. (Source: Telegraph, The Local)
(Sources: BBC News, Telegraph, Le Figaro, Guardian, Daily Mail, Telegraph, Guardian, Reuters, New York Times, New York Times, BBC News, New York Times, New York Times)
Anti-Semitism
France has seen a surge of attacks on Jews and Jewish sites, including the January 9, 2015 hostage attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris that killed four Jews. Several victims of Islamist-inspired lone wolf operations were Jewish, including four of the seven victims from the March 2012 shooting spree in southern France. Increasingly, Jewish businesses and sites have become targets of extremist attacks. In addition to the Jewish Museum in Brussels, Jewish synagogues and businesses in France were firebombed, besieged and vandalized, particularly in the summer of 2014, when protests in support of Gaza residents and against Israel escalated into violence. Jews have been increasingly emigrating from France in light of anti-Semitic violence. In May of 2014, a poll revealed that 74 percent of French Jews have considered emigration. (Sources: France 24, Anti-Defamation League, Tablet)
On November 18, 2015, following the November 13 Paris attacks, a Jewish school teacher was reportedly stabbed by three assailants in Marseilles. According to reports, the assailants declared themselves ISIS supporters and used anti-Semitic phrases while attacking the teacher. On August 19, 2016, a 62-year-old Jewish man was stabbed in what appeared to be an Islamist-inspired attack. (Sources: BFMTV, Le Monde, Telegraph)
Islamic Extremist Attacks Abroad
French nationals have been victims of Islamic-extremist attacks abroad. In 1983, Hezbollah targeted the American and French Marine Barracks, killing 58 French service members and 241 Americans. In 2002, French expatriates were the victims of the bombing of a French naval defense contractor’s bus in Karachi and an attack on a Limburg supertanker off Aden. In recent years, French civilians and service members have been kidnapped and murdered in Afghanistan, Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen. (Sources: New York Times, France Diplomatie)
Nationalist and Separatist Extremist Incidents in France
In the past, France has faced attacks from both extreme-right groups like the Organisation de l’Armée Secrète (OAS) in the 1950s and 1960s, and extreme-left groups such as Action Directe in the 1980s. Separatists, mainly Basque or Corsican ultra-nationalists, have also carried out terrorist attacks on France. (Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, Le Figaro)
Domestic Counter-Extremism
France has become the largest source of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria out of any EU country, with 2,000 French nationals having traveled to join Syrian jihadist groups as of May 2016. The government estimates that another 9,000 radicalized individuals are currently living in France. (Sources: Atlantic, Soufan Group)
In response to the French extremist threat, and following the January 2015 and November 2015 ISIS attacks, France has reworked and bolstered its overarching counterterrorism and counter-extremism effort, making sweeping changes to a number of its outlets and programs.
Legislative Efforts
France tries a broad range of crimes as terrorism-related offenses, in a network of non-jury courts. Since 1986, France has escalated its counterterrorism efforts through legal means, enacting more than a dozen bills to improve its counterterrorism infrastructure. In November 2014, French parliament passed the French ‘Patriot Act,’ which authorizes a travel ban on suspected terrorists, criminalizing attempts to leave France to commit “terrorist activities, war crimes or crimes against humanity” abroad, and authorizing the government to block websites that “glorify terrorism.” (Source: Gouvernement Francais, Stop-Djihadisme)
Since the January 2015 attacks, elements of the French Patriot Act have been enforced. France suspended the passports of six would-be jihadists on February 23, 2015. The first case of a government-censored jihadist site was also reported on March 16, 2015. In March 2015, five websites were censored by the French government. Since then, France has continued to censor websites that “apologize for terrorism.” The country’s Ministry of Interior has used social media to both advertise its online counter-jihad efforts, and appeal to the public for help in reporting suspicious websites. (Source: Gouvernement Francais, Stop-Djihadisme)
Following the November 2015 attacks in Paris, then French President Francois Hollande called for new and speedy legislation that would allow the police to conduct raids without a warrant and place people under house arrest. Hollande also called for amendments to the French Constitution that would allow the state to take exceptional security measures when needed. Additionally, he appealed to French courts for broader surveillance powers and the right to strip citizenship from convicted French terrorists with dual citizenship. President Hollande also sought—and received—approval to extend France’s state of emergency for three months, which was again extended in December 2016, and on several occasions since. In extending the state of emergency, the French Senate also voted to amend France’s 1955 “state of emergency” law in order to:
- Be able to extend the house arrest regime to any person suspected of constituting a threat to security and public order;
- Use electronic bracelets for in cases of house arrest wherein the person arrested has been previously convicted for acts of terrorism;
- Dismantle groups that have involved, facilitated or incited acts that constitute a serious breach of public order; and
- Enable France’s interior ministry to employ “all measures” to block websites that glorify or incite terrorism.
The amendments also included additional safeguards to civil liberties, including:
- Removal of a section of the law that allowed for governmental control of the press and radio during a national state of emergency; and
- Heightening penalties for breaching the law on search and house arrests.
On May 26, 2016, France’s Senate approved a law granting the country’s police and judicial branches more authority to counter terrorism, including extending police officers’ authority to hold terrorist suspects without access to a lawyer to four hours, and authorizing police officers to place suspected returning foreign fighters in house arrest for up to one month. French police are also now allowed to carry a gun, even when off-duty. In airports, police can also search suspicious passengers and their bags at will. (Sources: New York Times, Independent)
The law also grants additional surveillance capabilities to police, prosecutors, and prison authorities. According to the law, police and prosecutors are now authorized to employ electronic eavesdropping technology that had previously only been accessible to France’s intelligence communities. Prison authorities are also authorized to employ additional surveillance measures, including tapping prisoners’ cellphones, employing hidden cameras, and examining their electronic communications. (Sources: Le Monde, VICE News, Daily Mail, Le Monde, New York Times, Gouvernement.fr, New York Times, U.S. Department of State)
In October 2017, the French Parliament voted to advance a new counterterrorism bill that would transfer certain emergency security measures that are only permitted under a state of emergency into permanent law. These measures include allowing police to conduct house raids without a warrant and to set up checkpoints at will. The law also calls for the creation of a new anti-terrorism task force partially modeled after the U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force. The new task force is expected to coordinate domestic and foreign intelligence agencies. France has been under a nation-wide state of emergency since the November 2015 Paris attacks. The new anti-terrorism law went into effect on November 1, 2017. France simultaneously lifted its two-year state of emergency. (Sources: New York Times, Al Jazeera, Politico, NPR)
Stop-Djihadisme
France launched its “Stop-Djihadisme” (Stop Jihadism) campaign in late January 2015, in an effort to counter the threat of Islamic extremism throughout French society. As the campaign’s government-run website boasts, France has instituted counter-jihadism measures to its education and prison systems, allocate additional resources to its counterterrorism agencies, and enforce the country’s November 2014 anti-terror law. France has also announced plans to invest $45 million into creating de-radicalization programs throughout the country. (Sources: Stop-Djihadisme, Voice of America)
France’s Stop-Djihadisme campaign aims to give French citizens the tools to spot and prevent radicalization. The government-run website promoting this campaign holds a number of resources and info-graphics geared to help citizens spot and prevent jihadism. In light of the program, the government has begun to institute changes to the following sectors of French society:
- Education: France’s Ministry of Education has presented 11 measures to prevent radicalization and promote secular, republican values within France’s school system.
- Prison: The French government has announced numerous measures to address the jihadist networks and radicalization crisis within its prison system. Most notably, the government engaged in a short-lived experiment to segregate suspected extremist inmates from the rest of the prison population.
- Legislation and law enforcement: France has begun to enforce its November 2014 anti-terror law. As authorized by the new law, France has started to rescind the passports of suspected jihadists, and censor websites that promote jihadist ideology. The country has promised to allocate more resources and jobs to its counter-intelligence apparatus in order to better monitor the jihadist threat. Immediately following the January 2015 attacks, France made dozens of arrests against suspected jihadists. On March 17, 2015, France’s interior minister announced that the government has cut welfare benefits to 290 French citizens who have left the country to join jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria. (Source: Gouvernement.fr)
Counterterrorism Infrastructure and Law Enforcement
The French counterterrorism unit “Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmie Nationale” (GIGN), formed in 1973, conducts counter-terrorist operations and hostage rescue operations both in France and abroad. France has managed to thwart a number of attempted terrorist attacks on its soil, including plots to target the Eiffel Tower. In response to the Charlie Hebdo and hostage attacks, GIGN forces led a counterattack. On January 9, 2015, France’s armed forces killed the suspected assailants in both attacks and reportedly freed their respective hostages. Following the January 2015 attacks, France has announced its plans to direct additional resources to France’s counter-intelligence infrastructure. France also mobilized troops and deployed upwards of 10,000 security personnel to protect 830 “sensitive sites,” including synagogues, airports, railway stations and major tourist attractions. Nearly half of the security officers were sent to protect Jewish schools. (Sources: GIGN, Daily Telegraph, Le Figaro, Stop-Djihadisme, Le Figaro, Washington Post)
France has carried out a number of raids since the attacks in 2015 that have allowed the government to thwart existing terror networks, pursue suspects, and preempt further attacks. Paris’s police and counterterrorism forces have arrested more than 400 terror suspects—and claim to have foiled 17 terrorist plots—in 2016 alone. In November 2016, the government claimed that it prevented a major ISIS-directed attack when police conducted a series of raids in Marseille and Strasbourg. The government also claims to have thwarted attacks on Euro Disney, the Champs-Elysées, and the Notre Dame Cathedral, among other targets. (Sources: Independent, International Business Times, New York Times, Washington Post, France24)
Recruitment and Radicalization
Following the January 2015 attacks, the country’s Ministry of Education has adopted a series of measures to counter radicalization and promote secular values in France’s schools. In September 2016, the government also opened the first of 12 scheduled de-radicalization centers throughout the country. The launch is part of a $45.5 million-dollar plan announced by former Prime Minister Manuel Valls in May 2016 to address the danger posed by France’s radicalized population. According to Valls, these centers would house—and seek to rehabilitate—individuals who “have repented and who we will test the sincerity and willingness to be reintegrated back into society for the long term.” The centers are also scheduled to house and rehabilitate individuals whom a French judge deems to be at-risk of radicalization, and are run by the country’s Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Prevention of Delinquency and Radicalization. (Sources: Congressional Research Service, Stop-Djihadisme, education.gouv.fr, Associated Press, Atlantic)
In addition to countering extremism in France’s school system, France is increasingly working to counter Islamic extremism in its prisons. Muslims make up a disproportionate percentage of the prison population in France. In 2008, an estimated 60-70 percent of the prison population in France were Muslim, though Muslims were estimated to comprise only 12 percent of the population. A report from October 2014 found that 60 percent of France’s prison population comes from “Muslim origin or culture.” By 2016, nearly 1,400 inmates were believed to be radicalized, more than 300 of whom were incarcerated on terrorism charges. (Sources: Washington Post, Al Arabiya, Voice of America)
After the January 2015 attacks, France began to reorganize its prison system in order to isolate extremist inmates from the rest of the inmate population. The program—based on a 2014 experiment conducted in France’s Fresnes prison—involved grouping together radicalized inmates in units that were isolated from the other inmates. France announced that it would end the program after concerns emerged that the effort was helping to deepen radicalization networks within prisons. (Sources: Washington Post, Al Arabiya, Wall Street Journal, Gouvernement)
Despite efforts, prison radicalization remains a major concern in France. In 2016, homemade weapons were discovered in the cell of an inmate who was suspected to have been radicalized. In France’s Fleury-Merogis prison, 10 Islamists were removed from the prison system out of fear of an uprising. In September 2016, two guards were stabbed by an inmate who then drew a heart on the wall using one of the victim’s blood before beginning to pray. (Sources: Reuters, Voice of America)
Radicalization has also been suspected to take place in a number of France’s mosques. In 2013, France’s Interior Minister announced the deportation of a handful of radical imams who allegedly incited their congregations to violence against France. To combat online terrorist recruitment, France’s ‘Patriot Act’ bill authorizes its government to monitor and block forums and websites that “glorify terrorism.” (Sources: France24, VICE News)
Foreign Fighters
France’s ‘Patriot Act’ institutes a travel ban to prevent aspiring terrorists from leaving the country to fight abroad. The Act also sanctions the government to monitor and block jihadist websites, which is expected to combat the ability of recruiters to facilitate the travel of French nationals to Iraq and Syria.
In March 2015, France’s interior minister announced that the government cut welfare benefits for 290 French citizens who had left the country to fight with jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria.
(Sources: VICE News, France24)
List of Notable Designated Entities
The GIA, AQAP, and ISIS are included under France’s list of designated terrorist groups. (Source: La Direction Générale du Trésor)
Extremist and Terrorist Financing
Although France claims it does not pay ransom, hostages have credited the French government for funding their release.
Although France claims it does not pay ransom, hostages have credited the French government for funding their release. In July 2014, the New York Times reported that French nationals made up a third of 53 hostages taken by al-Qaeda over the past five years. In the fall of 2013, $40 million was allegedly paid to free four French nationals held by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). From 2010-2011, $17.7 million was allegedly paid to free three hostages held by AQIM, one of which was a French national. In 2011, $10 million was allegedly paid to free three French nationals held by AQAP, though the source of the payment was not determined. According to the Times, France typically delivers ransom money through intermediaries like state-controlled French company Areva, a nuclear giant. The company has denied funneling ransom fees on behalf of the French government. (Source: New York Times)
AQAP is funded primarily through robberies and hostage operations. On French TV, Charlie Hebdo attacker Chérif Kouachi claimed that his operations were financed by AQAP radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. (Sources: U.S. Department of State, Newsweek)
In addition to extremist groups based abroad, France is grappling with the growth of radical Islamist charities and organizations on its soil. The government’s strong ties to Qatar, which stands accused of financing radical Islamist organizations abroad, has led to growing criticism by the French right.
According to CEP surveys and polling data from 2014, 30 percent of respondents in France believed the government is not spending enough to combat extremism. (Source: Counter Extremism Project)
In the aftermath of the January 2015 Paris attacks, the French government has pledged more money and resources to combating terrorism. (Source: Stop-Djihadisme)
International Counter-Extremism
France was the first country to join the international coalition to fight ISIS. On January 13, 2015, the French Parliament voted almost unanimously (488 to 1) to continue anti-ISIS airstrikes in Iraq. Since the January 2015 attacks, France has also deployed its sole aircraft to use in the fight against ISIS, and raised the number of its deployed military personnel to more than 3,500. In the aftermath of ISIS’s November 13 attacks, France expanded its airstrikes to Syria, targeting ISIS’s so-called capital in Raqqa. According to the U.S. State Department, France participates “fully” in counterterrorism operations, and has provided training to security forces in Iraq. (Sources: Associated Press, Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State)
In addition to participating in foreign military engagements intended to counter terrorism abroad, France has also been instrumental in spearheading EU-wide initiatives designed to reduce the threat of transnational terrorist activity. Among these initiatives, France has successfully advocated for legislation requiring the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) information for travelers among EU countries, and for legislation requiring stricter arms trafficking controls. (Source: U.S. Department of State)
Foreign Military Engagements
As of March 2016, France had dispatched over 5,000 military personnel for operations throughout the world. Of these, 3,500 military personnel were sent to the Sahel region in Africa for Opération Barkhane, a counterterrorism effort headquartered in Chad and launched in July 2014. Around 900 military personnel are engaged in counterterrorism efforts in the Central African Republic. France has also dispatched 350 military personnel to the Gulf of Guinea, while 1,000 French military personnel are engaged in Iraq and 900 are engaged in Lebanon. When coalition forces evacuated Afghanistan, 150 French military personnel were among them. Less than 500 military personnel have been deployed to the Indian Ocean. (Sources: Le Ministère de la Défense, U.S. Department of State)
(Source: Le Ministère de la Défense)
French Forces in Africa
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has executed attacks in Algeria, Libya, Mali, and Niger. French forces responded to Islamist extremists in Mali with Opération Serval, starting airstrikes in January 2013. The operation lasted until July 2014, when it was replaced with a broader effort in North Africa called Opération Barkhane. The force is made up of about 3,000 French troops working alongside soldiers from Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Chad. The mission’s main objective is counterterrorism, according to France’s defense minister. Opération Barkhane, based in the Chadian capital N’Djamena, has the authority to cross borders as it targets Islamic extremism in Mali, Chad, and Niger. Barkhane will also create regional military bases in north Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Accompanying the French soldiers are six fighter jets, 20 helicopters, and three drones. Following the November 2015 attack in Bamakao, then French President Francois Hollande pledged to provide additional “necessary support” to Mali.
Recent French intervention in the Central African Republic (CAR) has taken the form of peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations. In March 2013, the rebel Seleka coalition overthrew the CAR government and in the following months carried out “grave human rights abuses against civilians, including pillage, summary executions, rape, and torture.” The predominantly Muslim group then faced reprisals from “anti-balaka” Christian militias. In response, the French-led Operation Sangaris was launched in December 2013, under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2127. By December 2014, France began to withdraw troops as the U.N. peacekeeping force reached its peak strength but retains a rapid reaction force in its former colony. (Sources: BBC News, National Interest, Reuters, Reuters, Human Rights Watch, Associated Press)
French Forces in Afghanistan
France has been involved in the war in Afghanistan since 2001. It has participated in operations both through NATO and as part of coalition forces led by the United States. France has participated in Opération Pamiralongside the International Security Assistance Force, Opération Héraclès for the naval and air components, Opération Epidote to train of the Afghan Army, and Opération Arès from August 2003 to January 2007 for special operations within Operation Enduring Freedom. After an Afghan soldier killed four French troops in 2012, then-President of France Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to suspend French operations. His successor, François Hollande, withdrew 2,000 of the 3,400 French troops in Afghanistan in June 2012. France reported 150 military personnel in Afghanistan before complete withdrawal. (Sources: New York Times, Reuters, Le Ministère de la Défense)
French Forces against ISIS
On September 19, 2014, France became the first country to join the U.S. in airstrikes against ISIS. The country has deployed thousands of military personnel for Opération Chammal, and reaffirmed its commitment to fight ISIS following the January 2015 attacks. In the aftermath of the deadly attacks on November 13, 2015, France has conducted a set of airstrikes against ISIS targets in the terrorist group’s stronghold of Raqqa, Syria. (Sources: Guardian, Le Ministère de la Défense)
Public Opinion
France takes seriously the threats of extremism and terrorism. A Pew poll from the spring of 2017 showed that 88 percent of French citizens polled believe that ISIS poses a major threat to the country. This figure was down only three percentage points from the year before, when 91 percent of respondents characterized ISIS as a major threat to the country. (Sources: Pew Research Center)
The Counter Extremism Project’s (CEP) polling data from 2014 has shown that the French public, relative to public opinion in the United States and other European countries, has long viewed Islamist-based extremism as one of its greatest threats. Immediately following the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015, the percentage of French citizens who believed that the threat of terrorism was “high or very high” was at 93 percent. One year later, 95 percent of respondents believed that the threat from terrorism is high. These figures are commensurate with polls from 2015 and 2016, which indicated that at least 85 percent of French citizens believed that the threat from terrorism was elevated. (Sources: Le Journal du Dimanche, Le Journal du Dimanche, Reuters)
CEP survey and polling data from 2014 showed that 30 percent of respondents in France believed the government was not spending enough to combat extremism. When responding to the question of policies they considered to be most effective in dealing with countries that permit extremism, French respondents answered as follows:
- Imposing tough economic sanctions against that country, 28 percent
- Engaging in aggressive diplomacy with the country to resolve the issue, 16 percent
- Taking military action in the country to root out the Islamic extremists, 14 percent
- Providing direct economic aid to the government to stabilize their economies, 6 percent
- Supporting opposition or moderate forces with money and other tools, 7 percent
- Ignore them, 10 percent
- Supporting opposition or moderate forces with arms, 7 percent
The majority of French respondents favored imposing tough economic sanctions against a country that allows extremism when polled in 2014. Finally, compared to other European countries, most French respondents (52 percent) believed that fighting Islamist extremism should be a top priority. (Source: Counter Extremism Project)
