In every summer a free party and technival, is organised in the règion of Carhaix (britany west of france) every years the party is quiet, an peaceful, since 2 years and the bebute, and the coming to power of the ultra conservative interior minister nicolas sarkosy, the represions against punks squatts, and techno festivals and free parties , or against the squatters movement, became more violent, with many brutal evictions, and brutally arrested people.

In the night of july 19 2003 somes free sound systems, try like past years to take a field for their annual free party, 1000 anti riots police are waiting the ravers, the repression is really violent, many ravers are savagely assaulted, one boy have lost his hand, due to an explosion of an offensive grenades, the same type of anti riot grenades we a fired in switzerland in the Anti G 8 demonstrations.


Please pass this information everywhere in europe, and in the world, we need international solidarity.


Everything began when members of CGT (the biggest labour syndicate) sent a message on raver's infoline network telling the Teknival was thrown on "Vieilles Charrues" festival's spot in support to its artistic/technician workers (people working in art industry in france have a special status that is actually changed by the governement, to explain it quickly people like Depardieu or Johnny Halliday are "indemized" by social services in addition to their already huge rewarding, and goverenement changed it making it harder to have this status, so they took the money to people who already are in difficulty.... so actually there's a big social movement about it). But the CGT told it wasn't them who did that. This point is quite obscure.

The party being forbidden by a prefectorial decrete, a thousand policemen were mobilized.

Some information and reaction here

Then on thursday, a hide & seek game began with the authorities that finished in Plouray during a big part of the night and day.

About ten partypeople's vehicles took part on friday in a blocking operation at about ten kilometres of Rostrenen (Côtes d'Armor) on the road to Carhaix where the official festival took place.

On friday night, party people went to a cul-de-sac "St Barbe's vault" located in Faouet, a 2/3 kilometers road surrounded by fields ending on two lage ones.

At about 9pm policemen seeing upcoming difficulties, the continuous flood of cars arriving from everywhere and partypeople doing a sit-in blocking the only way to the fields, began to get a little more irritated.

At this time, everything was very peacefull, slogans were "Give our sound back !" or "Let us party !" and such... it lasted quite a while.

Faouet's war


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Surrounded by policemen, some began to throw stones. The Morbihan's prefect, Elisabeth Allaire, having reaffirmed that t was "out of question to grant ravers an exemption", gave order to assault and to use all means necessary to disperse the ravers. Quicly a tear gas grenades rain fell on the sitting partypeople.

Partypeople answered by "stoning" police's vehicles (and policemen obviously), that were about ten at this time.

More and more partypeople were arriving to defend road's entry, attracted by the noise of grenades, always throwing stones. Policemen feeling in inferiority and in danger didn't hesitate to use great means : these so called OFFENSIVE GRENADES !

That's when everything began to get really nasty, all the partypeople agree saying that one would have believed oneself in war, "a true blood bath" "a butchery" "a carnage"...

First wounded one received an offensive grenade on his thorax (he's been very lucky), 4 broken "thorax bones" and multiple open wounds on all the body, everybody thought he was dead. The problem was that policemen were still firing offensive grenades (about 70 grenades were thrown ! ) No way to get (him) out of it, firemen couldn't came in, partypeople couldn't came out ! Another one had a hand bursted by a grenade that exploded at few centimeters of it in the air...

In fact, 25 wounded people had been sent to the hospital or have been healed by firemen's emergency services, but uncounted wounded people's count is huge. 7 people were hospitalized.

An old woman that have been saved by partypeople have been interviewed on TV (only on 1pm new, it's strange that these infomations disapeared on 8pm news to let only the part when she shows her wasted house). Partypeople took her to a safe place while policemen were firing grenades everywhere, including houses of the residents (many broken windows), and present residents.

The residents asked the cops to let ravers do as they were already many here anyway, but no way for them to be heard. Residents understood well partypeople's distress, obliged to defend against cop's violent attack.

Burning barricades have been set almost everywhere on the road and the bridge leading to the place where a few sound-systems managed to take place (2, 3 or 5 according to the testimonys)

Another testimony : "12 CRS (crowd control police unit) with support of the army, motorbikes and trucks... the hill was on fire with many burning barricades and a few wooden gates"

Everything lasted about 6 hours ! 6 hours of war to take the right to throw a TAZ

Some partypeople were in quite critical state and spent two days in the hospital.

The cops were firing grenades, partypeople were moving back a few meters then assault with stones, breeze blocks and such. Prefect tells about molotov cocktails but this is not confirmed by any witness.

It ended when partypeople decided to stop fleeing the cops assaults and began to all stand in front of the cops and their grenades, getting closer and closer to them without moving back.

Fortunately the cops stopped their butchery and all went away, freeing the spot's access. A "victory" but at which price ?...

The rave passes on


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Morbihan's prefect justified public force use, including using offensive grenades, telling that "It wasn't a youth gathering but a real riot". She also told that it wasn't a rave "as there were no sound-system present", that is an obvious bullshit, every sound-system being seized by policemen.

AFP : "The 1000 policemen spred in all central britany proceded since friday to 27 sound-systems seizures..."

After the fight the policemen just completely went away, without any will to "securize" the place. Not even an emergency call number was available. Lastly it seems municipality was almost absent, Saturday afternoon, the residents only received a simple phone call from the mayor. No visit on the spot. For some of them, even victims, the fault is to the authorities that tried stopping things too late and ill-advised, as many ravers were arrived in the city, they shouldn't have take the risk of the confrontation.

58 people were challenged for narcotic detention. The next day, two of them were sent to prison for a year (No reason supplied).

AFP : "Many ravers joined those already installed on St Barbe's vault's spot during the night, taking the number of present people to about 10 000 according to police"

On sunday morning about 8 000 young people were still in Faouet, concentrateds on a hill at the end of a road located just near the borought.

Saturday to Sunday's night have been quiete. Prefecture maintened filtering the roads around Faouet to prevent sound-systems from getting to St Barbe. It couldn't avoid that a small part arrived at destination, dismounted in separate elements for more conceability.

Ravers ended by proceeding to the spot's cleaning (seen on TV). Everybody participated, with trash bags distributed by firemen. Testimony : "At the end the spot was really clean, trash bags were all grouped along the road, even capsules and cigarettes ends have been took away in some places"

Whose fault ?


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The wrongs are shared.

To the "organizers" that apparently didn't organized much, and are surely not the ones that paid the full price for this night of hell. But if these people have a part o responsability, it surely wasn't to the ravers "mass" to undergo the consequences for them. Even less it was the resident's. Tekno comunity see with evil eyes the people responsible for this waste.

The fact that there have been minority of rioters and breakers in the partypeople is very probable. But police's reaction was apparently (voluntarly ?) disproportionned. Partypeople's image has been more degraded, that is a good deal for the governement.

Lastly, and mostly, prefect and public forces didn't hesitate to knowingly create a confrontation situation, pertinently knowing that with or without authorization, thousands of young people would converge toward Carhaix. The State once more led to a foreseeable confrontation, to make tekno movement's reputation worst, in spite of the structuring attempts of associations such as Le Silence Tue, Sound-systems collective... These efforts towards a dialog are highly in question, that could lead to others serious tensions and/or confrontations, in continuity of the systematically repressive logic of the government...