Europe 1 with AFP 3:51 p.m., October 09, 2021
Emmanuel Macron and Robert Badinter commemorated on Saturday at the Pantheon the fortieth anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in France. The Head of State and the former Minister of Justice have announced that they want to "relaunch the fight for universal abolition" with a "meeting at the highest level" in early 2022.
It was forty years ago to the day.
On October 9, 1981, the death penalty was officially abolished in France, with the promulgation of the law defended in Parliament by Robert Badinter.
It was on this occasion that President Emmanuel Macron participated in a commemoration ceremony at the Pantheon, in the presence of the former Minister of Justice.
The two men took advantage of the event to launch a vibrant call for the "universal abolition" of the death penalty, announcing a "meeting at the highest level" in early 2022.
The death penalty, a "shame for humanity"
"Abolition is a progress in human rights which has been incorporated into the national tradition," defended Emmanuel Macron during the ceremony.
The Head of State also deplored the 483 "state murders" recorded in 2020. The death penalty is still in force in 55 countries around the world.
A real "shame for humanity," said Robert Badinter at the Pantheon.
"Never, nowhere, has it reduced crime. Worse still: when it comes to terrorism, this scourge, the death penalty, would transform the terrorist into a martyr, a hero, in the eyes of his supporters. After each execution , a commando of fanatics would rise up to avenge him by committing new attacks ".
The urgency of "universal abolition"
The former Minister of Justice and the Head of State then launched a vibrant call for "universal abolition" of the death penalty. Emmanuel Macron indicated that France, within the framework of the French presidency of the EU, in the first half of 2022, would organize "in Paris, with the NGO Ensemble contre la penalty de mort, a meeting at the highest level bringing together the civil societies of States still applying the death penalty or a moratorium in order to convince their leaders of the importance and the urgency of abolishing it ". Then, during the next UN General Assembly, "France, with its EU partners", will mobilize "around a resolution so that, each year, the states that have not abolished the death penalty communicate to theUN the number of sentences handed down and the number of executions carried out, "he added.
Considerable progress
“Long live universal abolition!” Concluded Robert Badinter, applauded at length by the 200 guests present at the Pantheon.
Emmanuel Macron praised his "passion, in no way altered by time" and his "capacity for indignation".
Invited this Saturday morning at the microphone of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach for Europe 1, just before the ceremony at the Pantheon, the former Minister of Justice recalled the progress towards "universal abolition".
"When I took the platform of the National Assembly in 1981, we were the 35th state in the world [to abolish the death penalty, editor's note]. Today, there are 120 states out of 180 which are abolitionist in law in their law ".