According to Press TV, a new report by British advocacy group Cage points to Macron's use of executive powers to craft what it calls a "systematic obstruction" policy to target Muslim groups and institutions in France. 

The policy, which gives the state "vast powers to monitor and close institutions, unilaterally dissolve organizations and seize money under the pretence of preserving Republican values and combating Islamism and/or separatism”, has been used to single out Muslim organizations, the report notes.

Cage, which works to empower communities impacted by the so-called “war on terror” and campaigns against wrongful state policies, released the report at a press conference in Paris on Wednesday and called for the immediate repeal of such powers. 

The group said the systematic obstruction policy was used by French authorities to justify the closure of at least a dozen mosques, hundreds of Muslim-owned businesses and charities, and the seizure of millions of euros worth of assets. 

Rayan Freschi, a French legal jurist who has co-authored the report, said it exposes how Islamophobia has been "institutionalized through an infrastructure of enforcement and mass surveillance”.

"Four years ago, the French government initiated a secretive and draconian Islamophobic policy," Freschi said in a statement, referring to the policy.

"This report documents how the French state has swiftly dismantled the foundations of the Muslim community's autonomy through a calculated persecution, spreading terror among an entire religious community: 718 closures, 24,884 inspections and 46 million euros extorted by the state later, it is time to stop this witch hunt against Muslims," the statement further noted.

Among the organizations closed for allegedly promoting “Islamist propaganda” were the French Muslim charity Barakacity and the non-profit Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), which monitor Islamophobic attacks throughout France.

Both organizations have fiercely denied such charges but both remain dissolved./ parstoday