United Nations experts condemn the police response to the student protests in France, and the government offers damaged shops up to 10,000 euros

The statement came from Gina Romero, the special rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly, Farida Shaheed, the special rapporteur on the right to education, Leopoldo Maldonado Gutierrez, who covers freedom of expression, and Pau Perez Sales, the special rapporteur on torture and other ill treatment. They said the arrests and detentions of several thousand people, most of them minors, appeared disproportionate, and that excessive force, violence and mass arrests are not appropriate responses to a social protest movement in a state governed by the rule of law. The cases in the reports around the statement include a student in Saint Etienne who lost a hand and a teenage girl who lost an eye.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has put the number of people detained since early October at more than 5,000, with about 85 percent of them minors, as of October 29. The experts also condemned the violence done by protesters, the damage to buildings and shops and the injuries to police officers. They called on the French government to review its policing strategies and practices, to investigate the injuries, and to deal with the education failures that started the movement. The protests began in mid September with high school pupils blockading schools over dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages, and they grew into a wider movement over the cost of living. Student organizations have called another national protest for Saturday, October 31.

The government answered the damage side of the crisis on Wednesday. Papin said businesses with fewer than 50 employees and annual turnover below 10 million euros can receive aid of up to 10,000 euros, whether or not they are insured, with the amount set by the damage suffered. The fund will be set up formally in the coming weeks, and Papin said the assistance is already guaranteed. The aid sits beside an interest free loan from Bpifrance of 5,000 to 50,000 euros, repayable over 36 months with a 12 month grace period, and a fully funded short time working scheme for businesses that cannot operate.

The CCI France network of chambers of commerce counts more than 2,500 businesses affected by the violence on October 17 and October 24, including 1,161 that were looted, vandalized or set on fire. Government estimates put the number of affected businesses at around 3,000, as of October 29.