“Those who do not understand today the causes of the riots are amnesiacs, blind or both. It has in fact been 30 years that the suburbs have struggled for justice. 25 years that the revolts, the riots, the demonstrations, the marches the public meetings, the cries of anger with precise demands have been formulated." (MIB, Mouvement de l’immigration et des banlieues)

Paris. On Thursday 27 October 2005 two teenagers allegedly ran and hid when police officers arrived to conduct immigration-ID checks. Bouna Traore, a 15-year-old of Malian background, and Zyed Benna, a 17-year-old of Tunisian origin died from electrocution in the electrical relay substation where they tried to hide.

Riots began in Clichy-sous-Bois on 27 October, and spread throughout Seine-Saint-Denis and beyond to other parts of the Île-de-France region during the following five days. On 31 October provocation turned into outrage as the women's prayer room at de Bousquets mosque was teargassed by police. As people stumbled out gasping for air, the policemen called the women "whores", "bitches" and other insults. On 3 November, first arson attacks were reported from beyond the Île-de-France, in Dijon and Rouen.

On 11 November the French government declared "state of emergency" for the first time since 1968, using an anti-colonial law from 1955, last used during the Algerian uprising. Since the riots began, more than 8,500 cars have burned and police have arrested more than 2650 people. The French government announced that they are going to deport all foreigners involved in the riots, whatever immigration status they have (fr) [1] | [2].

Links: Reports from Paris IMC (fr) [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | Timeline and Overview (en) on Wikipedia | Eyewitness accounts (en) [1] | [2] | Video evidence of police brutality: rubber bullets | explanation | beating | Demonstration in Calais (en) | Incidents in other cities around Europe

Indymedia Groups in France: Nantes | Nice | Marseille | Grenoble | Toulouse | Paris | Lille

Statements: from MIB [en] | [fr] | Anarchist Federation [en] | [fr] | FSE | RAS

Opinion: (en) | (fr) | Zmag [1] [2]