within a week of the ban, scores of Muslim girls were refused entry, breaching their rights to education and non-discrimination. LGBTI PEOPLE LGBTI groups signalled an increase in antiLGBTI violence, with LGBTI community centres across mainland France and in overseas territories subjected to attacks and vandalism. UNLAWFUL ATTACKS AND KILLINGS France’s legal framework regarding the use of lethal force and firearms by law enforcement fell short of international human rights law and standards. In June, a police officer shot and unlawfully killed a 17-year-old French child of Algerian descent, Nahel M, during a traffic stop. The killing sparked widespread outrage about lethal force, impunity and systemic racism in French law enforcement. Large-scale protests and unrest followed. In some areas, military units were deployed alongside law enforcement. At least 32 investigations were launched into incidents of excessive force by law enforcement during subsequent protests and unrest. Delivery driver Mohamed Bendriss was killed, and scores of people were seriously injured, some suffering permanent mutilation, after being struck with less lethal weapons. There was no progress towards securing justice for the killing of Algerian national Zineb Redouane, who died after she was struck by a tear gas canister fired by police during a protest outside her apartment in December 2018. FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY Authorities repeatedly resorted to excessive, disproportionate and illegitimate restrictions on protests. Protesters were frequently subjected to arbitrary arrests and fines as well as confiscation of safety equipment, protest banners, pots, pans and amplifiers. Local authorities often pre-emptively banned protests citing “public order” risks, without considering alternative options to facilitate peaceful assembly. In April, a Paris administrative tribunal overturned the latest 172 in a series of sweeping banning orders declaring it a “manifestly illegal infringement of the right to protest … not necessary or proportionate to the preservation of public order”. In July, the administrative court of CergyPontoise upheld a “public order” ban on a gathering to commemorate the anniversary of the death in custody of Adama Traoré. Police carried out violent arrests, and seriously injured Youssouf Traoré, brother of the late Adama. The court upheld the banning of a subsequent protest against police violence and systemic racism, again citing public order risks in the wake of widespread disturbances following the killing of Nahel M. In October, the minister of the interior issued a memo calling on local authorities to pre-emptively ban all Palestine solidarity protests, a disproportionate and discriminatory attack on the right to peaceful assembly. The ban was challenged before the Council of State, which determined that local authorities should judge public order risks on a case-by-case basis. Dispersal of protests using force, including indiscriminate baton strikes, was often a tactic of first resort. In March, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about excessive force and the arbitrary arrest and detention of protesters and bystanders. The UN Special Rapporteur for Environmental Defenders condemned the “disproportionate” law enforcement response to an environmental protest in Sainte-Soline, which had caused many injuries. One protester required neurological treatment after being placed in a month-long induced coma and spending six weeks in intensive care. In June, UN rights experts expressed concern about excessive use of force against protesters, journalists and bystanders at pension reform and climate protests, including the use of stun grenades and tear gas, and the firing of rubber bullets from moving vehicles. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe expressed alarm at the injuries The State of the World’s Human Rights