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The announcement was made from the Pantheon in Paris, during the tribute to the 40th anniversary of the end of capital punishment in France and in the company of Robert Badinter, the former Minister of Justice who promoted his vote. Without naming the countries that still apply this penalty, the president was critical and declared that he will bring together “the civil society of the States to convince their leaders of the importance and urgency of abolishing it.”
This Saturday, 40 years after France abolished capital punishment, President Emmanuel Macron referred to its use as punishment and warned that he will soon launch a campaign to eliminate it globally. His announcement was not accidental, but within the framework of a tribute to the anniversary of the prohibition, developed at the Pantheon in Paris together with Robert Badinter, the minister who then fought for a more humane solution.
There he announced that the country will relaunch “the fight for the universal abolition” of the maximum penalty, taking advantage of the biannual presidency of the European Union (EU) in 2022: “We will organize a meeting at the highest level together with the NGO Ensemble, in which we will bring together civil society from states that still apply the death penalty to convince their leaders of the importance and urgency of abolishing it. “
The last execution on French soil took place in Marseille in 1977, two months before Macron was born, against the Tunisian immigrant Hamida Djandoubi, who was guillotined.
The president also criticized the nations that still have the punishment available, although without mentioning any in particular. “The number of executions consummated in 2021 is 483, certainly a low number,” he said. However, he finished raising the tone that “there are 483 state deaths administered by 33 political regimes.”
He also drew similarities between these countries that, “for the most part, share despotism and the rejection of the universality of human rights.” In Europe, only Belarus maintains capital punishment. Although members of East Africa, the Persian Gulf, India, China or the United States continue to apply it.
The tribute made in the French capital was especially emotional by Badinter, former Minister of Justice with the socialist François Mitterrand between 1981-1986, who played a leading role in eradicating it. “In 1981, we were the 36th state to abolish it. Today 109 countries out of 189 have abolished it,” he said optimistically.
In France, the return of the death penalty was raised in public debate because of the extreme right, which represents a third of the electorate that will have to vote in less than seven months in the presidential elections. “The death penalty never contributed to reducing crimes. In the case of terrorism, that scourge of our society makes them martyrs, heroes,” he explained.
Finally, Badinter insisted that “the death penalty can only disappear because it is a shame for humanity.”
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