At first, officials claimed that Adama had succumbed to heart disease. Later, they said that the young man died as a result of a "serious infection" affecting multiple organs. They also claimed that he had been drinking and smoking cannabis before his arrest. Adama's relatives immediately denied these claims, and asked for further investigation into the cause of his death.
Ten months later, a new expert, who assessed the case at the Traore family's request, did not find any signs of heart disease or infection. Toxicology reports for cannabis and alcohol also came back negative. He concluded that Adama Traore's cause of death was asphyxiation. [...]
Adama Traore is not the first person to die in police custody in France and the Traore family is not the first French family to break down as a result of police actions. There are many families all over the country struggling to get justice for their loved ones who died in similar circumstances. [...]
In January 2017, an investigation by the Defenseur des Droits, an independent constitutional authority, revealed that young men "perceived as Arabs or blacks" are 20 times more likely to undergo an identity check in France than the rest of the population. The same report also showed that 95 percent of these identity checks did not lead to an arrest. [...]
Amnesty International had already sounded the alarm about police brutality in France in 2009 and 2011 and warned of the dangers of the restraint techniques used by police officers. The prone restraint - or face-down restraint - involved the detainee being pinned on a surface and physically prevented from moving out of this position. Research has suggested that restraining a person in this position can lead to asphyxia and the technique has been banned in countries such as Belgium and Switzerland, as well as Los Angeles and New York in the US. In France, this is still a lawful and acceptable restraint technique.
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