The Montpellier office of the League for Human Rights (LHR) has reportedly addressed concerns over the “massive and prolonged use” of tear gas at Yellow Vests demonstrations to the head of the Herault department, which Montpellier falls under.
The organisation is said to have identified some fifteen cases in which respiratory problems commonly associated with “acute toxicity” were observed.
“People have been getting gassed for 20 weeks and we have no feedback from clinical studies on this,” Sophie Mazas, president of the LDH in Montpellier, was quoted as saying. “We demand that law enforcement be carried out in accordance with the precautionary principle, the health of people and the right to demonstrate,” she added, urging authorities to “analyse this phenomenon and take it in hand”.
It came after several witnesses were “struck” by the power of the gases emitted to disperse the crowds during protests on 30 March, according to the French daily Midi Libre. The tear gas issue came under increased scrutiny in February, when some protesters complained about what they called cyanide poisoning as a result of police actions. For example, Paris lawyer Raquel Garrido claimed that she had suffered from “stomach pains and spasms” as well as vomiting and headache.
“I informed my friends on Facebook about my symptoms following the inhalation of tear gas yesterday at Act 13,” she tweeted on 10 February. “Since then, I have received a lot of similar testimonials. According to my doctor, this resembles hydrocyanic acid poisoning. I demand that the Interior Ministry reveals the composition of the gas.”
When pressed on the issue, Secretary of State to the Minister of Interior Laurent Nunez rebuffed accusations that the tear gas used against the protesters contained poisonous substances.
“There are no products kept secret in the tear gas composition,” Nunez said, adding that it contains “no incapacitating product” and that its recipe has remained unchanged.