France, Sept. 25 -- France's human rights record is under fire, with a new report warning that freedoms once taken for granted are being steadily chipped away.

A report from the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders- a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT) - says that democracy in France is sliding.

The report posits that state authorities are increasingly stigmatising civil society organisations and the causes they champion - particularly when those causes challenge established power.

It says this shift has been especially visible since 2017, following the formal end of the state of emergency that had been introduced after the 2015 t...