PARIS (AP) - Thirteen people who claim they have been targeted by French police for identity checks, often with humiliating public pat-downs, because they're black or of Arab descent went to court Wednesday to seek reparations and a change in police guidelines.
Their case is billed as a first of its kind in France.
The plaintiffs who appeared in the Paris courtroom for Wednesday's one-day trial range from students to delivery personnel. One is an athlete. None has a police record, but all claim they are subjected to ID checks because of the way they look.
A study conducted in Paris by the Open Society Justice Initiative with France's National Center for Scientific Research shows that blacks are six times more likely to have police checks than whites and those of Arab origin eight times more.
The New York Police Department is facing similar allegations that police stop and frisk people based on race. New York police have made about 5 million stops in the past decade, most of them involving black and Hispanic men. In a high-profile case, four men filed suit contending that hundreds of thousands of those stops were unconstitutional. They want a monitor to oversee changes to police department training, supervision, and policy.
The French legal action, backed by the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Union of French Lawyers, and the Stop Racial Profiling group, all say the case is unprecedented in France.
"You can't arrest someone because he wears a hoodie and walks fast," said plaintiff Niane Bocar, 34, who was subject to an ID check in November 2011 in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Ouen when he was leaving the house with his two sisters.
"In this action, we're targeting this system," he said.
French law allows for widespread police checks on people deemed suspicious, but opponents say it is too vague and gives police too much discretion.
Discrimination against minorities in France became a national issue after fiery riots in 2005 that hopscotched through suburban housing projects, where a majority of residents or their families, come from former French colonies in Africa. The rioting revealed a simmering anger from suburban minorities isolated from mainstream life.
It served as a wake-up call to the government, which pledged to better integrate minorities and renovate run-down projects. But anti-racism groups contend that the programs lacked ambition and have failed to guarantee equality for non-white citizens.
Plaintiffs are seeking 10,000 euros ($13,000) each in this case, and a verdict is expected Oct. 2.
State prosecutor Sylvie Kachaner argued, the controls in each case were covered by the law, and that police need to do their jobs to ensure security.
"The controls were perfectly authorized" she told the packed courtroom, and added, "who's to blame police" who are "more interested in a sensitive neighborhood where we know there are problems?"
The original lawsuit was filed in April 2012 against the state. At the time, lawyers conceded that it's no easy task to prove that a police check constitutes racial profiling, because there is no written evidence that a check was warranted or that one even occurred. The goal of the legal action is to ensure that police act on clear guidelines when they decide to carry out an identity check or a body search and submit a written report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.