The Defender of Rights notes a series of “failures” in the care provided following the arrest after which Adama Traoré died.
In a decision that franceinfo was able to consult on Tuesday June 27, the Defender of Rights requests “disciplinary proceedings” against four gendarmes who intervened during the arrest of Adama Traoré in July 2016 in Val-d’Oise. Claire Hédon raises a series of “failures”not at the time of the arrest of the young man of 24 years, but in the care given following the arrest after which Adama Traoré died.
In this anonymized 26-page document, the Defender of Rights calls into question “failures” in their “duty of care towards any apprehended person”. On July 19, 2016, after escaping a first arrest, the young man was tackled to the ground on his stomach. According to the version they gave to the two investigating judges in May 2022, of which franceinfo was aware, only one of the four gendarmes heard Adama Traoré say that he was having trouble breathing. Everyone agrees that the arrest was very quick.
For her part, the Defender of Rights does not question the way in which the gendarmes arrested Adama Traoré, considering that “the use of force, under the conditions described by the gendarmes, could appear necessary“. Nevertheless, Claire Hédon “recommended” posting a note “within the national gendarmerie on the risks of ventral immobilization”.
The gendarmes “did not practice a regulatory PLS”
In a series of detailed points, the Defender of Rights notes that “the arresting gendarmes did not uncuff” Adama Traore “before putting him in the lateral safety position (PLS) and that consequently, contrary to what they indicate, they did not practice a regulatory PLS”. Claire Hédon also notes that “when the firefighters arrived, the gendarmes refused to grant their request to uncuff” Adama Traore “believing that he was simulating, before conceding to do so at the insistence of the firefighters”. Finally, she finds that “the firefighters had difficulty entering the gendarmerie brigade to provide assistance” to the young man.
“We salute the courage and honesty of this independent authority”greets Yassine Bouzrou, the lawyer for Adama Traoré’s family, on reading the report: “This is a disavowal of unprecedented violence against the investigating judges who are the only ones in the world to believe that the gendarmes have committed neither fault nor criminal offense”.
For their part, the lawyers of three gendarmes believe that “this decision validates the heart of what was reproached to the gendarmes: the reason for the arrest, a brevity of the intervention of the order of a minute, the necessary use of force, the gestures practiced in accordance with what has been taught, without calling into question the most essential, the judicial instruction”.
The lawyers add that “our clients have been consistent in their declarations”, which is disputed by the family of Adama Traoré. And contrary to what the Defender of Rights indicates in her report, these lawyers believe that the gendarmes practiced a PLS “validated by firefighters” And “suitable for a security environment”. “The firefighters and the Samu were able to take full charge of Adama Traoré”they say.