A mother faces her sons’ unpaid fine debt of tens of thousands of euros resulting from dozens of fines they received throughout their childhood, Paris, France, June 2026.
French police issue on-the-spot fines for alleged public disturbance offenses to harass boys and young men perceived as Black, Arab, or North African and evict them from public space in their own neighborhoods.Children and young men have received fines that can grow to tens of thousands of euros, causing immense economic hardship, and social and economic exclusion.France should remove three public disturbance offenses from its Criminal Code, cancel outstanding fine debt for these offenses, and put in place effective oversight and accountability over racial discrimination by police.
(Paris, June 17, 2026) – French police are using overbroad powers to issue on-the-spot fixed penalty criminal fines as a new tool for racial profiling, Human Rights Watch, (RE)CLAIM, and Maison Communautaire pour un Développement Solidaire (MCDS) said in a report released today.
The 60‑page report, “Paying the Price of Police Harassment: Discriminatory Fines Target Black and Arab Youth in France,” documents the experiences of the boys and young men from low-income households receiving abusive and discriminatory fines for allegedly committing offenses of noise nuisance, littering, and illegal discharge of unsanitary liquids, when they are simply carrying out ordinary activities such as talking outside their homes or playing sports in a neighborhood park. These fines are issued based on police officers’ subjective observations, without judicial scrutiny, while the fined person has no basic fair trial guarantees.
June 17, 2026 Paying the Price of Police Harassment
Disc
… [more]
