At the heart of the debates with each new terrorist attack in France, the S sheet is not a marker of dangerousness or radicalization, contrary to a widely held idea, but an intelligence collection tool.
5 mins
With each terrorist attack in France, the debate resurfaces around the S sheet and its effectiveness. That of Saturday December 2 which left one dead and two injured near the Eiffel Tower in Paris is no exception to the rule. As soon as the attacker’s journey was known, part of the political class denounced in more or less veiled words a supposed laxity and alleged failings of the state apparatus, pointing in particular to the S file which Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab made the object for radical Islamism.
Contrary to what its name might suggest, the S file does not constitute a file, but a category of search measures within the File of Wanted Persons (FPR) which has 21. Established in 1969, the FPR targets people subject to administrative or judicial research. It thus concerns runaway minors (M), deserters (D) as well as escapees (V) or people prohibited from entering the territory (IT)… According to a Senate report580,000 people were registered with the FPR in December 2018, for more than 640,000 files, the same person being able to be the subject of several files.
The role of the FPR: to facilitate research, surveillance and controls by the police, gendarmerie, customs or Tracfin, the intelligence service responsible in particular for the fight against money laundering and tax evasion. It is integrated into the Schengen Information System (SIS) used at European level. Since 1995 and the removal of borders within the EU, police, judicial and customs authorities in European countries and those associated with the Schengen area can add and consult reports in this vast database.
“ This File of wanted persons is the one that the police or gendarmes will consult during a road check, for example, explained recently on RFI independent investigative journalist Vincent Nouzille. By scanning your identity on their tablet, they will see if it matches one of these categories and will know what behavior to adopt. » This can range from a simple report to detention of the individual concerned for a maximum of four hours.
Around 30,000 S files
The S file, for “State Security”, concerns people whom France suspects of a terrorist project or of an attack on State security and public security, due to their individual or collective, without having committed crimes or misdemeanors. In addition to those listed for radical Islamism, ultra-right activists, black blocs, zadists, hooligans, etc. can therefore be listed. They can be French or foreign and may or may not be present on national territory.
If their current number is opaque, the senatorial report of December 2018 identified around 30,000 people on S files, more than half of them being monitored for radical Islamism. They would be 3,000 for belonging to the ultra-left, according to a count communicated last October by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, and 1,300 from the ultra-right.
However, the S sheet does not constitute an indicator of dangerousness. It can in fact apply to any person in direct relationship with an individual already being monitored, such as a family member or a classmate. “ Non-dangerous individuals may be subject to an S form, just as dangerous individuals may not be registered with the FPR, particularly when their surveillance is carried out by other means. », warns one 2018 parliamentary report.
Nor is it proof of guilt. Only the information collected concerning a registered person can lead to the opening of an investigation by the prosecutor and then possibly a judicial investigation, underlines the government website stop-jihadisme.gouv.fr. Consequently, it cannot justify any immediate arrest, unlike the “J” and “PJ” files which target people wanted by the justice system and the police.
Collect information
Most often issued by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), the S sheet is an alert tool used for intelligence purposes. It includes information such as civil status, description, photographs or reasons for search, and is itself subdivided into sixteen categories, corresponding to types of profiles or actions to take in the event of discovery. These generally consist of collecting information – identity documents, origin and destination, vehicle used, possible companions, contents of baggage, etc. – as discreetly as possible so as not to arouse the suspicions of the person concerned.
As soon as a person covered by this form is subject to a police check accompanied by a consultation of the Wanted Persons File or the Schengen Information System, the issuing service is notified. This can enable it to trigger active surveillance of the individual (wiretapping, shadowing, etc.) or simply to trace their movements, including at European level.
“ This does not allow for regular monitoring or even surveillance of people. The objective of these sheets is not to prevent an attack, but to collect information », insisted in October on RFI the lawyer Nathalie Cettina, specialist in questions of the fight against terrorism. The S form has a lifespan of one year and can be renewed if continued monitoring is necessary.
This system has been supplemented since 2015 by the File of reports for the prevention of terrorist radicalization (FSPRT) dedicated to people reported for radicalization. These are classified into six categories, defined according to the degree of radicalization and the level of monitoring assigned to them. According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, some 20,120 people were listed in the FSPRT last October. Of these, 5,100 were actively monitored.