On the occasion of the 9th World Day Against the Death Penalty (Monday 10 October 2011), France wishes to reiterate its full and ongoing commitment to the universal abolition of capital punishment.
The European Union and France believe that the death penalty constitutes cruel and inhuman punishment and that its abolition contributes to the protection of the right to life. No legal system can rule out making an error of law, and any miscarriage of justice in the application of capital punishment represents a loss of human life, is by definition irreparable and irreversible. Finally, the death penalty plays no part in fighting crime; it provides no added value in terms of deterrence and is rather the sign of a failure of justice.
France abolished the death penalty in 1981, i.e. 30 years ago. The constitutional revision of 19 February 2007 confirmed the prohibition of the death penalty into the Constitution, which allowed France to ratify Protocol No.13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the UN’s Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which abolish the death penalty in all circumstances.
To celebrate the 9th World day Against the Death Penalty, the Embassy of France to Botswana, along with the German Embassy and the United Kingdom High Commission, is sponsoring a debate on the death penalty organized by the European Union Delegation, to be held today, from 5.45 pm at the University of Botswana Auditorium (Gaborone).
