“As children and young people prepare to take to the streets across France, authorities must ensure their safety and security and protect and facilitate the exercise of their right to demonstrate peacefully,” Anne Savinel-Barras, head of Amnesty International France, said in a statement on Monday.
Amnesty said French authorities must meet their human rights obligations and immediately halt what it called a “disproportionate police response” to the demonstrations.
“Any policing response must be lawful, necessary and proportionate, and authorities must avoid unnecessary and excessive use of force,” Savinel-Barras said.
She said footage and testimonies reported over the past week “raise alarming concerns about the dangerous use of tear gas, batons and restraint techniques by police,” accusing officers of discharging tear gas grenades “recklessly” and firing rubber bullets that caused serious injuries.
“The priority should be the de-escalation of tensions and authorities must take all available precautionary measures to avoid the need to use force,” Savinel-Barras said.
The criticism comes as student demonstrations continue across France, with Education Minister Edouard Geffray announcing Monday that 589 educational establishments had been affected during the day.
Geffray also said 190 students had been injured since protests over education conditions began in the Paris region in mid-September.
The scale of the crackdown has also drawn attention, with a judicial source cited by BFMTV saying 5,060 people had been taken into custody since the movement began, 87% of them reportedly minors.
The French Human Rights League has separately accused law enforcement of a broader “drift away from the rule of law” and of failing to respect legal standards during police interventions against protesting students.
Five investigations have been opened by France’s General Inspectorate of the National Police into incidents connected to the mobilization.
The growing criticism has placed additional pressure on the French government as Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu attempts to contain the crisis through five proposals, with decisions sought before the end of October.
Students are demanding increased resources, better-maintained school buildings, smaller classes and measures to address staff shortages.
The protests and the allegations surrounding police conduct have intensified scrutiny of France’s handling of demonstrations involving young people, with rights groups warning that the authorities’ use of force risks further escalating tensions rather than addressing the grievances that brought students into the streets.