A European Watchdog rebuked French police usage of rubber bullets and other methods that caused extensive injuries. Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic said that she is "seriously concerned" about "extensive injuries" caused by rubber bullets and other French police methods to disperse yellow vest protesters.
Mijatovic, who met this week with French officials to discuss rights issues related to two months of yellow vest protest, lamented "the high level of tension currently prevailing in France".
"There is an urgent need to calm the situation," she said in a statement issue Wednesday.
Mijatovic warned against measures currently under debate in parliament that could limit people's right to demonstrate.
Yellow Vest vs. Red scarves Counter-Demonstrations
On Sunday, thousands of protesters marched through Paris to condemn violence in the "yellow vest" movement that has rocked France for weeks with angry protests over President Emmanuel Macron's rule.
Some 10,000 people turned out for Sunday's counter-demonstration, a day after an 11th consecutive Saturday of "yellow vest" demonstrations across France that brought sporadic clashes with police.
Participants, some wearing red scarves after the name of the counter-movement, displayed slogans like "stop the violence" and "hands off my Republic" in a peaceful afternoon procession in eastern Paris that ended in Bastille square.
Around 69,000 people attended the latest Saturday protests, including 4,000 in Paris, a lower turnout than the previous weekend, the interior minister said.
However, the injury to well-known activist Jerome Rodrigues attracted more television coverage on Sunday than the "red scarves" march, as it heightened debate over use by police of dispersal grenades and so-called "flashball" pellet guns.
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