Death of Adama Traoré: reconstruction and grey areas
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Analysis of CCTV footage, law enforcement radio exchanges, and key testimonies enabled Le Monde, in partnership with Forensic Architecture, to reconstruct in images and in 3D the final hours of Adama Traoré, who died on 19 July 2016.
- Incident date
- Location
- Beaumont-sur-Oise (France)
- Victim(s)
- Adama Traoré (24 y.o.)
- Consequence(s)
- Décès
- Force(s) involved
- Gendarmerie nationale
- Methods employed
- Plaquage ventral
- Theme(s)
- Partenaire(s)
- Forensic Architecture, Le Monde
At the time this investigation was published, the independent investigation NGO Index was still being incubated within the research agency Forensic Architecture. Index is therefore not the direct author of this investigation, which is credited to Forensic Architecture and Le Monde.
Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old Black man, died in police custody on 19 July 2016 in Beaumont-sur-Oise, in the northern suburbs of Paris. At around 5 pm that day, Traoré crossed paths with a patrol of three officers. Two hours later, he lay dead on the floor of the Persan gendarmerie station. The uncertainty surrounding his death sparked a major protest movement across France, which continues to this day.
Based on the statements of various witnesses, CCTV footage, and other elements of the ongoing official investigation, Le Monde and Forensic Architecture produced a detailed reconstruction of the events that led to Traoré’s death.
Despite the close scrutiny to which the officers were subjected during their official interviews, their statements do not yield a single, unambiguous account of events. For this reason, Forensic Architecture produced multiple digital reconstructions of the key moments, visualising the distinct and sometimes contradictory accounts given by each officer. Our investigation reveals how the main medical expert report commissioned by the courts rests on a single, contradictory testimony.
Owing to the inherently partial nature of the testimonies, the investigation does not reach a definitive conclusion on the circumstances of Adama Traoré’s death, but it demonstrates the gap that remains between the official account of events and the available evidence.
Method
The main challenge of this investigation was the absence of any material evidence regarding the circumstances of Traoré’s arrest, inside the flat where he was apprehended. The only available source of information was the statements of the three gendarmes who carried out the arrest. Each officer gave three different statements between 2016 and 2018. Taken together, these statements do not yield a single account of events. For this reason, Forensic Architecture produced multiple digital reconstructions of the key moments, visualising the distinct and sometimes contradictory accounts given by each officer.
The process of 3D modelling the positions and movements of the suspect and the three officers, as described in their own statements, allowed for a detailed study of the configuration of their bodies, and brought to light the “grey areas” that still remain around the causes of Traoré’s death.
The same reconstruction process was used to visualise the conditions in which Traoré was detained. Further contradictions thus emerged regarding the assistance Traoré received (or did not receive) after losing consciousness in custody.
Despite numerous requests from Adama Traoré’s family and their lawyer, the French justice system has still not ordered a physical re-enactment of the key moments of the sequence of events.