France : Un gendarme dénonce "un harcèlement raciste" au sein de la Garde républicaine, enquête en cours
An investigation is underway in Paris following a complaint by a gendarme who denounces "racist harassment" within the Republican Guard, AFP learned Sunday from concordant sources.
The 29-year-old soldier filed a complaint on December 17, 2025, for psychological harassment and non-public defamation, among other charges, and was then interviewed on January 21, 2026, according to a source close to the case. "An investigation is underway," confirmed the National Gendarmerie.
On December 16, 2025, Ryan (name changed) received a letter in his mailbox. "We're in France here, dress like this, you dirty Arab," it read, referring to a traditional Algerian outfit Ryan had worn to a wedding outside of work hours. This letter prompted him to take legal action to denounce "six years of racism," he told AFP and Mediapart.
Ryan remembers his "first date" with his commanding officer. "I didn't know if I'd just witnessed a comedy sketch or if I was really going to be dealing with this kind of thing for years to come," he recounts. According to Ryan's recollection, the commanding officer told him: "I don't want to see you in a djellaba at the barracks"; "Don't fall into my arms during Ramadan." And he offered some "friendly" advice: "I'm going to ask you to keep a low profile and get used to it."
The "sketch" quickly turned into "permanent suspicion," Ryan says.
After arresting an assailant, he recounts that his colleagues asked him if he knew him "because he spoke Arabic." "My visitors were being checked like criminals," he also claims.
"Serving France for all these years did not protect my client from racism within his own institution. If racism strikes there, it strikes everywhere," his lawyer, Seydi Ba, declared indignantly.
When contacted, the national gendarmerie recalled having put in place an internal "zero tolerance" action plan regarding discriminatory behavior, and developed a "prevention and support network with equality-diversity referents as well as reporting platforms and mechanisms".
It has also set up "a Gendarmerie Observatory for Equality and against Discrimination (OGED), which covers professional equality, diversity and the fight against harassment, discrimination and violence, both internally and in the context of its security missions in contact with the population".
The gendarmerie also states that "reports are dealt with immediately".
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