Prime minister Manuel Valls tells BBC the measure brought in after Paris attacks must remain for ‘necessary’ amount of time

France is considering extending the state of emergency that has been in place since the Paris attacks in November despite criticism from human rights groups and United Nations experts.



The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, told the BBC that the state of emergency must remain in place for the “necessary” period of time and “until we can get rid of” Islamic State. “As long as the threat is there, we must use all the means,” he said.

Valls’s comments sparked debate in Paris about how long the extra emergency police powers could be allowed. A final decision is expected next week, but the French president, François Hollande, has told senior figures that an extension of the measures is probable.

The government declared a state of emergency within hours of the first shots by gunmen on 13 November, when a series of attacks across Paris left 130 people dead. But the powers – which hark back to the Algerian war in the 1950s – were later redefined and extended for three months until 26 February.

The state of emergency allows police to conduct house raids and searches without a warrant or judicial oversight, including at night, and gives extra powers to officials to place people under house arrest outside the normal judicial process. It also allows for restrictions on large gatherings.

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This week, a group of four UN human rights specialists called on France not to extend the state of emergency, warning of “the lack of clarity and precision of several provisions of the state of emergency and surveillance laws”. Their main concerns centred on the restrictions to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to privacy.

The Human Rights League of France has taken a case to the country’s highest court to end the state of emergency, which it said was no longer justified and “seriously impacts public freedoms”. The case will be heard next week.

Since it was declared, there have been 3,099 house raids and searches. More than 380 people have been placed under house arrest. Most of the raids and house arrests took place in the weeks after the Paris attacks and the rate has since since slowed down. In total, at least 500 weapons have been seized. But 200 of those weapons were seized from one person, BFMTV reported.

Of the thousands of raids carried out, four judicial proceedings linked to terrorism have been opened, and Le Monde reported that one person had been charged in connection to terrorism.

Several house arrests have been legally contested, including a row over environmental activists put under house arrest during the Paris climate talks using the emergency measures.

Hollande intends to enshrine the new adapted special emergency measures into the French constitution in a high-stakes vote of both houses of parliament next month.



Opinion polls show public opinion is largely in favour of the state of emergency.

Privately, members of the ruling Socialist party have said that ending the special measures would be a very delicate issue. There is a sense among the French public that another attack could take place at any moment and the government does not want to be seen to have lifted measures should an attack occur.

This week, French state TV obtained a military intelligence document listing seven sites that could be the target of “coordinated, simultaneous” attacks, spread over several parts of France. These included Toulouse airport, the La Défense business district in Paris, the port of Marseille and the European parliament in Strasbourg.

