(CN) — In a move decried by civil liberties groups, French President Emmanuel Macron has declared war on a nationwide grassroots climate movement that uses aggressive – and sometimes violent – tactics to stop progress on big infrastructure projects its supporters deem bad for the planet.
On Wednesday, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced a decree that outlaws a popular ecological movement spawned in the past two years called the Les Soulèvements de la Terre (Uprisings of the Earth), or SLT. Darmanin has called them “eco-terrorists.”
Darmanin accuses SLT of inciting violence and conducting sabotage at about 20 protests against large infrastructure projects. He said the group was responsible for a “major role in planning, spreading and legitimizing violent methods of operation,” as reported by French media.
Protests broke out immediately following Wednesday's ban and civil liberties groups, among them Amnesty International, condemned the move as a serious breach of the right to protest and the right to free association.
Lawyers for SLT vowed to challenge the ban at France's constitutional chamber, the Council of State.
France's crackdown on climate protesters echoes developments in Germany and the United Kingdom, where increasingly repressive methods are being taken to quell a wave of disruptive climate protests arisen since the end of pandemic lockdowns and the resumption of free movement and assembly.
Andrew Kythreotis, a senior lecturer and climate policy expert at the University of Lincoln in England, called the crackdowns “deeply troubling.”
He said many Europeans are upset by their governments' inaction on climate change and are resorting to more extreme forms of protest because the planet is on course to dangerously overheat.
“Government policy on climate change continues to be weak, so people are protesting for legitimate reasons,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday.
In May, German police conducted a nationwide raid against the Last Generation, a grassroots movement that uses traffic blockades, sit-ins and stunts at defacing great works of art in museums to get their message across. German prosecutors accuse the movement of acting like a criminal organization and are considering levying criminal charges against its members.
In April, the British government passed new restrictions to curb a wave of disruptive protests by Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil. Arrests have become a regular feature at protests in Germany, France and Britain.
But the demonstrations in France have taken on a much more violent tinge than those in Germany and Britain, with clashes resulting in numerous injuries on both sides and left police vehicles in flames.
Since Macron came to office in 2017, France has been roiled by protests and the violence seen at the SLT demonstrations resembles the chaos surrounding other protests by the so-called “yellow vests” against fuel taxes and by trade unions against pension cuts.
In March, an SLT protest against an agro-industrial water reservoir erupted into dreadful violence that left two protesters in a coma and about 30 police officers injured. There were about 5,000 demonstrators and more than 3,000 police.
Last weekend, clashes erupted again after up to 3,000 people showed up to block the construction of a controversial high-speed rail line through the Alps between Lyon and the Italian city of Turin. Work on the project has been disrupted on the Italian side for years.
SLT members have also been at protests to stop the construction of a cement plant in Marseille. On Tuesday, French police – including some with the country's anti-terrorism division – arrested several SLT supporters and prosecutors said 14 people were detained for questioning over vandalism at a protest against the cement plant in December.
The 40-year-old Darmanin is a close ally of Macron. The president, a liberal centrist, brought Darmanin into his cabinet from France's right-wing milieu in the wake of the violent “yellow vests” protests in 2019 that threatened Macron's presidency.
With his tough-on-disorder approach, Darmanin seems to act as a political bulwark against Macron's main challengers, the far-right forces of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen who like to denounce Macron as weak on crime, immigration and civil unrest.
But Darmanin has stirred severe criticism for spearheading draconian and violent police actions against France's yearslong cost-of-living protests and for allegedly unlawfully targeting Muslim groups.
Prior to the pandemic lockdowns, climate protests, many inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were swelling and pushing the European Union to take drastic steps against global warming, but that protest momentum stalled with the health crisis. But it is now back with much more vigor.
Kythreotis, the University of Lincoln climate policy and governance expert, doubted the crackdowns will dampen the public's mood to protest.
In Germany, he said, the raid on the Last Generation “seemed to catalyze more action and solidarity.”
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
Follow @cainburdeau
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