近日，法國政府公布了一項新的去極端化計劃，針對監獄、學校和社交媒體等提出了60條改革措施，將教育、司法、科研、網絡、企業等均納入去極端化領域，以更好地預防極端思想的侵襲，保證法國國土安全。輿論分析，這一計劃與以往政策不同的是，不再僅僅依靠社會力量，而是發動與之相關的多個專業領域，使其打破隔閡、產生聯動，凸顯了法國政府預防極端思想蔓延的新方向。
加強預防，實現跨部門聯動
法國總理愛德華·菲利普2月23日在北方城市裏爾公布的這一計劃，圍繞提高防範意識、擴大甄別範圍、提高專業化水平、加強預判和評估等幾大綱領展開，綜合了法國內政部、國民教育部、司法部等數十個部門的相關政策和建議，對現行機製進行了推陳出新。法國總理府稱，這一新計劃與法國監獄管理、城市治理等主要政府工程並行不悖。“在打擊恐怖主義行為的同時，也防範極端思想的蔓延”，正是該計劃推出的主旨所在。
在新計劃中，加強中小學等教學機構的防範意識是重中之重，尤其是私立學校。法國將在全國各類學校中加強價值觀教育，通過發放資料和提供培訓等方式，提高教學人員甄別受極端思想影響的年輕人的能力。法國政府還將向私立教學機構派駐特別督學團隊。日前，法國參議院還通過了一項嚴格私人辦學條件的法案，以預防恐怖主義性質教育機構的出現。
針對監獄中的極端分子，法國政府有意改變當前分散關押的策略，轉而對其進行集中或隔離看管。根據新計劃，法國今年將在全國各監獄中增設4個極端化評估區，加強對思想極端化在押人員的甄別，其中一個專門用於評估極端化傾向的普通犯人。根據評估結果，監獄可按照危險程度決定是否對其進行單獨隔離，將其關押至特別設置的暴力犯人區或極端化預防區。據法國司法部介紹，法國將在78個監獄設立此類隔離區，為此將新增1500個床位，到今年年底至少設立450個。馬賽、裏昂和裏爾三地將增設3個“極端分子個人區別對待區”，對在押極端分子進行個性化管理，防止其在監獄中傳播極端思想。
法國還將與各大社交網絡平台加強合作，計劃通過自動識別和刪除工具，在一個小時內清除恐怖主義宣傳信息，避免年輕人受到網絡恐怖主義的影響。此外，調離或辭退安全部門內出現極端化傾向的公職人員、對研究人員開放極端分子信息庫以加強科學研究、提升地方行政和醫療機構預防極端化的專業水平等都是法國政府新計劃中的主打措施。
恐襲頻發，亟待扭轉不利局麵
法國輿論普遍認為，政府此前采取的去極端化政策收效甚微。從2014年4月的“反恐計劃”到2016年5月的“反對極端化和恐怖主義行動計劃”，法國政府不斷加大政策力度，卻未能有效阻止恐怖主義襲擊。《費加羅報》近日發表社論稱，以往的政策失效是政府急於求成、忽視專業性、草率行動的結果。
自2015年初以來，法國《查理周刊》總部、尼斯、巴黎等地相繼發生恐襲事件，造成大量人員傷亡，恐襲成為法國社會難以愈合的傷口。法國輿論研究所去年底的民調顯示，恐怖主義威脅直至今日仍是法國人不安全感的最大來源，92%的法國民眾認為未來發生恐怖襲擊的可能性仍然很高。
法國內政部長科隆25日表示，法國今年初以來已挫敗兩起恐怖襲擊圖謀，這兩起襲擊企圖分別針對一個大型體育設施和軍隊人員。他強調，法國尚未“走出”恐怖主義陰影，恐襲風險仍將持續多年。
根據法國監獄機構的統計，在全法約7萬名在押人員中，目前共有512名因涉恐行為入獄的服刑犯人，還有1139名普通犯人被認定為思想傾向極端化。截至2月20日，法國“預防恐怖主義性質極端化行動”監視檔案中記錄在冊的人員達到近2萬名，其中2000人被評估為危險人物，10多名曾參與實施恐怖襲擊的極端分子在未來2年內將陸續刑滿出獄。此外，近年來，法國在中東地區的極端分子陸續回流，其中包括不少婦女和青少年。截止到2017年11月，這一數字達到300餘人，對這類人尤其是青少年極端分子的安置和接管問題成為一大難題。
褒貶不一，新計劃成效有待檢驗
法國媒體資深評論員讓—米歇爾·埃爾維格分析認為，法國政府過去主要依靠社會組織等力量來幫助個人或家庭消除極端化傾向，缺少政府統籌和專業經驗，甚至發生多起公共資金挪用事件，導致政策效果不佳。尤其是監獄管理不善，牢房成為了極端化思想傳播的溫床，一些普通罪犯逐漸轉化成極端分子。他認為，新計劃在動員各方參與和改變監獄管理等方麵的措施值得期待。
法國《世界報》評論稱，在恐怖主義陰影揮之不去的當下，這項新計劃不隻是為了將極端分子從激進思想中拯救出來，而是針對極端化思想的蔓延采取“全方位的預防戰略”。一些觀點認為，該計劃突出了預防的重要性，內容全麵細致，很多措施有的放矢，如對青少年極端分子的接管、解雇出現極端化傾向的公務人員、加強對私立學校的監管以及對社交媒體言論的引導等都是解決極端化思想蔓延的正確方向。
不過，也有輿論對新措施的有效性提出質疑。新計劃具體如何實施、預算如何安排等細節內容尚未出爐，長期跟蹤極端化問題的法國參議員納塔莉·古萊擔心，法國政府對新計劃的施行沒有後續的評估和跟進措施，缺乏具體的日程表，可能會變成“空頭支票”。
此外，也有社會學專家指出，這一計劃沒有針對極端化案例多發的弱勢地區采取經濟或者社會保障類措施，從長期來看，無法真正地解決問題。新的計劃過於強調“打壓”，缺少了“融合”的內容。目前的“打壓”措施可能導致一些年輕人變成真正的極端分子，恐怕適得其反。如何幫助極端化的年輕人完成“自我救贖”，融入到社會集體中，重新就業和生活，值得政府做更長遠的考慮。
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)
