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The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
French PM François Bayrou failed to act on abuse at Catholic boarding school, report says
The French prime minister, François Bayrou, failed to act to prevent physical and sexual abuse at a private Catholic school in south-west France when he served as education minister between 1993 and 1997, a parliamentary report has said. The damning report issued by French lawmakers on Wednesday comes after a long parliamentary inquiry into allegations of decades of physical abuse, rape and sexual assault at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram boarding school near Pau in south-west France. The lawmakers also heard from survivors' groups from many other schools across France, describing how children had been subjected to 'monstrous [and] terrible crimes' of 'unprecedented severity and of absolute sadism.' The report found what it called 'persistent' violence in public and private schools across France and accused the state of failing to act. Bayrou, 74, has in recent months faced accusations from opposition lawmakers in parliament that as education minister he knew of physical and sexual abuse at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram school, to which he sent some of his children and where his wife taught catechism. He has denied any wrongdoing, saying he only found out about the allegations of abuse from the media. The two co-rapporteurs of the parliamentary inquiry, the centrist MP Violette Spillebout and the leftwing MP Paul Vannier, said he had not acted to address the issue of violence at Bétharram when he was education minister in the 1990s. The report said: 'In the absence of action that the former education minister … had the means to take, this physical and sexual violence against the pupils of Bétharram continued for years.' Vannier told a parliament press conference on Wednesday that there had been major 'failings' by the French state, the justice system and the education ministry, which failed to implement proper checks and controls. He said these failings were at every level 'from the local level right up to the highest levels of state'. Vannier said the report found that Bayrou would have known about physical violence at the Bétharram school from 1995 and sexual violence from 1998. Vannier said: 'At the time he had all the means to act and he didn't act.' Vannier told the state broadcaster France Inter: 'Many of the testimonies we received were beyond my imagination. I couldn't imagine acts of torture, children being injected with water, children being deprived of sleep, children being deprived of food to punish them in endless sadistic games for years and years, devastating entire lives.' A member of Bayrou's team rejected the findings accusing the prime minister of inaction. 'It's exactly the opposite,' the official told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity. 'No minister after François Bayrou organised any verification checks or inspections.' Bayrou, a centrist who was appointed prime minister by the president, Emmanuel Macron, in December, has denounced what he calls a political campaign of 'destruction' against him. In mid-May, Bayrou was questioned for five and a half hours by the parliamentary inquiry, in one of the most delicate moments of his time in office. He struck a defiant tone at the time, telling the hearing: 'I had nothing to hide.' The report found the violence at Bétharram school was systemic. The violence 'was – at least in part – institutionalised', with 'a community of prominent figures providing unwavering support', the lawmakers found. They stressed that the abuse at Bétharram was 'far from being a unique case'. Such violence still persisted in private schools, particularly Catholic establishments, the authors said, pointing to a 'strong code of silence'. The report warned of 'virtually nonexistent' checks and an inadequate system of prevention and reporting by the state. They called for a compensation fund for victims and an end to all time limits on filing a legal complaint for child sexual abuse. Alain Esquerre, a former Bétharram pupil who exposed abuse at the school and brought together survivors to fight for justice, said it was urgent that all victims of school abuse got state recognition and parliament must pass a law removing a time limit for legal complaints over child sexual abuse.
Local France
2 days ago
- Politics
- Local France
Inquiry accuses French PM of failing to act over school abuse
The scathing report issued by several French lawmakers, who have investigated widespread claims of abuse at the Notre-Dame de Betharram boarding school, also pointed to 'persistent violence' in other French schools, accusing the state of failing to act. Bayrou, 74, has in recent months faced accusations from the opposition that, as education minister, he was aware of widespread physical and sexual abuse over many decades at the Notre-Dame de Betharram school, to which he sent some of his children. 'In the absence of action that the former education minister had the means to take, this physical and sexual violence against the pupils of Betharram continued for years,' the two co-rapporteurs of the inquiry, Violette Spillebout and Paul Vannier, said in a 330-page report published on Wednesday. The conclusions of the commission of inquiry, which began its work in March and heard from 135 people, including survivors of abuse at other schools, add further pressure on Bayrou, who survived a vote of no confidence on Tuesday. Named by President Emmanuel Macron in December to bring much-needed stability to the French government, his minority coalition relies on the far-right to stay in office and risks being ejected in the autumn in a looming standoff over the budget. The centrist politician has denied any wrongdoing and denounced what he calls a campaign of 'destruction' against him. 'This commission of inquiry was a thorough investigation into the unthinkable: children, all over France, subjected to monstrous acts,' wrote Fatiha Keloua Hachi, who presided over the inquiry. Over the past three months the lawmakers heard of sexual violence and 'physical violence too, sometimes of an unprecedented severity, of absolute sadism,' she said. In mid-May, Bayrou was questioned over five-and-a-half hours by lawmakers investigating the violence, in one of the most delicate moments of his months in office. He struck a defiant tone at the time and said he only knew of allegations of sexual abuse from media reports. Advertisement Centrist Spillebout, and Vannier, a lawmaker with the hard-left La France Insoumise party (LFI), said the violence at the Betharram school was systemic and 'cannot be reduced to isolated incidents'. The violence 'was – at least in part – institutionalised', they said, with 'a community of prominent figures providing unwavering support', including 'members of the government'. The lawmakers stressed that the abuse at the Notre-Dame de Betharram school was also 'far from being a unique case'. Such violence still persists in private schools, particularly Catholic establishments, the authors said, pointing to a 'strong code of silence'. The rapporteurs also deplored 'a failing state', with 'virtually non-existent' controls and an 'inadequate' system of prevention and reporting. They listed a range of proposals to address the violence, including creating a compensation fund for victims. Around 200 legal complaints have been filed since February last year accusing priests and staff at Betharram of physical or sexual abuse from 1957 to 2004. Some of the boarders said the experience had scarred them for life, recounting how some priests visited boys at night. Bayrou's eldest daughter, Helene Perlant, accused the clergy running the school of systemic abuse, saying a priest beat her during summer camp when she was 14. She said, however, her father did not know about the incident. Advertisement
LeMonde
2 days ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
School violence in France: Report presents 50 recommendations to break 'culture of silence'
"You are at day one – I hope history will remember it – but you must keep going; there needs to be a day two, a day three," said Constance Bertrand, a former student of the Saint-Dominique Catholic school in Neuilly, northwest of Paris, on March 20, during the first hearing of France's parliamentary investigative committee on school violence, which focused on victim groups. "I beg you, do not let this issue fade away," she urged the lawmakers. Three months after the start of the inquiry, the two co-rapporteurs of the committee tasked with examining state oversight and violence prevention in schools, MPs Violette Spillebout, of the presidential party Renaissance, and Paul Vannier, of the radical-left La France Insoumise, showed no intention of letting the issue be forgotten. On Wednesday, July 2, they published a report providing an unprecedented overview and analysis of violence committed by "adults in positions of authority" against children in schools.
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Inquiry accuses French PM of failing to act over school abuse
Physical and sexual violence at a Catholic school in France persisted for years without any action from Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who served as education minister between 1993 and 1997, a parliamentary inquiry said on Wednesday. The scathing report issued by several French lawmakers, who have investigated the claims of abuse at the Notre-Dame de Betharram boarding school, also pointed to "persistent violence" in other French schools, accusing the state of failing to act. Bayrou, 74, has in recent months faced accusations from the opposition that as education minister he knew of widespread physical and sexual abuse over many decades at the Notre-Dame de Betharram school to which he sent some of his children. "In the absence of action that the former education minister... had the means to take, this physical and sexual violence against the pupils of Betharram continued for years," the two co-rapporteurs of the inquiry, Violette Spillebout and Paul Vannier, said in a 330-page report. A member of Bayrou's team took issue with the findings that accused the prime minister of inaction. "It's exactly the opposite," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "No minister after Francois Bayrou organised any verification checks or inspections." The centrist politician has denied any wrongdoing and denounced what he calls a campaign of "destruction" against him. "Many of the testimonies we received were beyond my imagination," Vannier told broadcaster France Inter on Wednesday. "I couldn't imagine acts of torture, children being injected with water, children being deprived of sleep, children being deprived of food to punish them in endless sadistic games for years and years, devastating entire lives," he said. The conclusions of the parliamentary inquiry, which heard from 135 people including survivors of abuse at other schools, add further pressure on Bayrou, who survived a vote of no confidence on Tuesday. The commission of inquiry is not expected however to refer the matter to courts. Named by President Emmanuel Macron in December to bring much-needed stability to the French government, Bayrou's minority coalition depends on the far-right to stay in office and risks being ejected in the autumn in a looming standoff over the budget. 'Absolute sadism' "This commission of inquiry was a thorough investigation into the unthinkable: children, all over France, subjected to monstrous acts," wrote Fatiha Keloua Hachi, who presided over the commission. Over the past months, lawmakers heard of sexual violence and "physical violence too, sometimes of an unprecedented severity, of absolute sadism," she said. In mid-May, Bayrou was questioned for five and a half hours by the lawmakers investigating the violence, in one of the most delicate moments of his time in office. He struck a defiant tone at the time and said he only knew of allegations of sexual abuse from media reports. Centrist Spillebout and Vannier, a lawmaker with the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI), said that violence at the Betharram school was systemic. The violence "was - at least in part - institutionalised", they said, with "a community of prominent figures providing unwavering support". The lawmakers stressed that the abuse at the Notre-Dame de Betharram school was also "far from being a unique case". Such violence still persists in private schools, particularly Catholic establishments, the authors said, pointing to a "strong code of silence." The rapporteurs also deplored "a failing state," with "virtually non-existent" controls and an "inadequate" system of prevention and reporting. They listed a range of proposals to address the violence including creating a compensation fund for victims. Around 200 legal complaints have been filed since February last year accusing priests and staff at Betharram of physical or sexual abuse from 1957 to 2004. Some of the boarders said the experience had scarred them for life, recounting how some priests visited boys at night. Bayrou's eldest daughter, Helene Perlant, accused the clergy running the school of systemic abuse, saying a priest beat her during summer camp when she was 14. She said however her father did not know about the incident.
