The Ensemble 06 movement opposes the permanent state of emergency and the deprivation of nationality. Their responses are: citizen mobilization, solidarity, and equality of rights.
The National Assembly voted in the first reading of the constitutional bill known as “protection of the Nation” which, under the guise of combating terrorism more effectively, aims to incorporate the deprivation of nationality and the state of emergency into the Constitution.
Initiating an unhealthy debate, the Hollande/Valls government initially sought to extend the deprivation of nationality to French people born as dual nationals.
This proposal then transformed into “deprivation for all,” embracing the possibility of creating stateless persons in disregard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Nationality, which France has signed but never ratified—an entirely hypocritical legal argument. By adopting a proposal from the far-right, the government dishonors itself and contributes to establishing a society of suspicion, fostering division within the population.
The constitutionalization of the state of emergency aims to heighten infringements on freedoms and the near impunity of the executive branch, which have thus far been permitted by the 1955 law.
It is accompanied by a project to “combat organized crime and terrorism reform of the criminal procedure,” posing a danger to freedoms by incorporating procedures previously reserved for a state of emergency into ordinary law, as well as a new proposal of extension for three months. But the state of emergency is unnecessary and even counterproductive in the essential fight against terrorism, which above all requires human resources for investigations and long-term perspectives.
The entirety of these projects, which establish a permanent state of emergency, only exacerbates the anxiogenic climate of the period and undermines citizen mobilizations that are more necessary than ever to assert that another world is possible.
Like a growing number of citizens, legal experts, and magistrates, associations for democracy and human rights, union and political forces who participated in the January 30 demonstrations in Nice and more than 70 cities in France, Ensemble! 06 demands the immediate end of the state of emergency and the withdrawal of the “protection of the Nation” bill and all bills aiming to aggravate infringements on liberties.
To the deprivation of nationality, Ensemble! 06 responds with the demand for solidarity and equality of rights, starting with the right to vote for foreigners in all elections.
The urgency is for sustained and citizen mobilization of society for its own protection and for solidarity-based alternatives in our neighborhoods and territories.
Ensemble 06
