G. Communication Ho. 348/1989. G.B. v. France (decision of 1 November 1991, adopted at the forty-third session) Submitted by; G.B. (name deleted) Alleged victim; The author State party: France Date of communication; 9 January 1989 (initial submission) The Human Rights Committee, established under article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Eights, Meeting on 1 November 1991/ Adopts the following: Decision on admissibility* 1, The author of the communication, dated 9 January 1989, citizen born in 1964 and a resident of Rennes, France. She victim of a violation by France of articles 2, paragraphs 1 and 27 of the International Covenant o» Civil and Political is 6.B., a French claims to be a to 3, 19, 25, 26 Eights. Facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author was arrested during the night of 7/8 August 1987 on charges of having defaced a number of road signs in the Departement d'lle-et-Vilaine. Her action, she states, was part of a campaign led by the movement "Stourm ar Brezhoneg" (Fight for the Breton Language), whose aim is the posting of bilingual road signs, in French and Breton, throughout Brittany. 2.2 In December 1987, the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Rennes fined the author 5,000 French francs and sentenced her to a term of four months of imprisonment (suspended); at the same time, she and the two codefendants, Herve Barahig a/ and S.G., b_/ were sentenced to pay 53,000 French francs, with interest, for the damage caused* G.B. states that the tribunal refused to accept the testimony of the defendants in Breton. On 4 July 1988, the Court of Appeal of Rennes confirmed the judgement of the court of first instance. 2.3 The author indicates that none of the above sentences has been the subject of an amnesty, as has been the case with respect to other, similar offences. The suspended prison sentence is, in her opinion, merely intended to prevent her from entering the civil service. An individual opinion submitted by Mrs. Rosalyn Higgins is appended. -351-