France on Tuesday called on Senegal to ensure a “proportionate” response to any protests after violence over a delayed presidential election killed three people.
“France again calls on the authorities to hold the presidential poll as soon as possible,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
It called for any use of force to be “proportionate” after the United Nations flagged “reports of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against protesters”.
“France encourages all Senegalese actors to favour dialogue and preserve Senegal’s long democratic tradition,” it said.
President Macky Sall’s decision earlier this month to push back the February 25 vote has plunged traditionally stable Senegal into one of its worst crises in decades.
Three people, including a teenager, have died in the ensuing unrest.
Senegalese authorities on Tuesday suspended mobile internet and banned a march against the delay of the vote.
