9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty - Address by Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

Representatives of international and non-governmental organizations,

Ministers, Members of Parliament, Ambassadors, abolitionist campaigners,

Ladies and gentlemen,

45 years ago, France turned a new page in its history.  On 9 October 1981, at the instigation of French Minister of Justice Robert Badinter, the law abolishing the death penalty was enacted. On that day, Robert Badinter announced before the National Assembly that French justice was no longer “a justice that kills”, “a justice of anguish and death”. In the name of human dignity, France stopped inflicting in its territory this inhuman suffering, which is devoid of any moral or legal justification.

But this fight is not over, as it is a universal one. Because although France and Europe have abolished the death penalty, it is still practised by too many countries around the world. In Iran, capital punishment and executions have risen since 2022. Let us not forget our Iranian brothers and sisters. In China, Saudi Arabia and the United States, capital punishment is still widely practised. In 2025, Amnesty International recorded over 2,700 executions in 17 countries.

These figures should ring alarm bells, as they indicate the highest number of executions since 1981. Thousands of lives have been taken by a justice system focusing on the wrong targets. Because as all the reports show, whether from the United Nations or civil society, the death penalty is no deterrent to crime. It is most often discriminatory with regard to political opponents, the most vulnerable groups and minorities. The cost of legal proceedings is exorbitant. No, the death penalty does not heal; it destroys.

Today, there is a global movement for its abolition, which I commend. It is being led by Europe and most United Nations Member States. But also by stakeholders from justice systems the world over: lawyers, magistrates, and above all, civil society and young people who refuse to inherit a world in which States have the right to kill.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Together against the Death Penalty (ECPM), which for the past 25 years has been fighting for this cause through regional and world congresses. By carrying out advocacy campaigns. By training magistrates and lawyers. In December 2023, the President of the French Republic called for this Congress to be set up, and today, here we are. The work and mobilization of Together against the Death Penalty made that commitment a reality.

I would also like to thank the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and all civil society organizations, including Amnesty International, which every year inform, advocate and mobilize. International civil society is a driver for change.

I would like to thank all lawyers, magistrates and Members of Parliament here in Paris today, who are fighting for this cause in their countries on a daily basis, sometimes at great risk. Your commitment is essential.

Holding this Congress here in Paris is especially significant. We are just a stone’s throw from the Palais de Chaillot. It was there that in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, co-authored by René Cassin, was adopted. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate in recognition of his tireless fight for human dignity, he passed away 50 years ago and remains a guiding light and source of inspiration for us all.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are committed at multilateral level to achieving universal abolition. In 2007, France enshrined the prohibition of the death penalty in its Constitution. This modification allowed us to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. With this Covenant and other texts, the members of the United Nations made the abolition of the death penalty a priority. Major resolutions were adopted in the international bodies. In 2007, the first one, which demanded a universal moratorium on executions, was adopted with a large majority. These resolutions illustrate an irreversible trend: the world is moving away from the death penalty; our fight is bearing fruit. In 2024, 130 States voted in favour of this resolution at the General Assembly.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights plays a key role in spearheading this combat on the international stage. I would like to commend the High Commissioner, Mr Volker Türk, and thank him for being here with us. The Global Alliance for Human Rights, launched a few days ago in Geneva, will help to mobilize public opinion, private sector actors and civil society actors.  High Commissioner, in the face of the attacks on rights that are increasing all around the world, this initiative is essential; you have our support.

Many states are working alongside France for the universal abolition of the death penalty. I therefore wish to warmly thank the 24 Member States of the International Commission against the Death Penalty for their action, and the Member States of the Core Group of Friends of the World Congress for their efforts preparing this Congress.

Judiciaries are also essential allies in achieving universal abolition. The European Court of Human Rights played a fundamental role in that sense, and I welcome the presence here today of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Alain Berset. The Court gradually ensured abolition became an inviolable principle, through its interpretation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. That is a source of pride for the peoples of Europe. Because every time a judge refuses to resort to the death penalty, they make a contribution to abolition. As for barristers, they are the last line of defence between the accused and the execution chamber. Let us remember Robert Badinter, who France interred in the Pantheon on 9 October 2025, alongside the minds of the Enlightenment and the spirit of 1789. For him, the death penalty was the failure of justice, and no failure is irreparable.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Youth brings hope for universal abolition. Students, activists, influencers, all those who are here with us and fight the battle for abolition with new energy. That is why the Congress decided to highlight the commitment of young people. For us, it is a matter of strengthening education on human rights, training future lawyers to defend abolition, and promoting the initiatives led by the networks of young activists all around the world.

The fight against the death penalty is much more than a legal or political combat, it is the affirmation of a simple principle: there can be no exception or hierarchy to human dignity. It is the living foundation of our democracies, the cardinal principle underlying the primacy of human life over any form of power.

All the fundamental freedoms to which France remains unwaveringly committed stem from this requirement: freedom of expression, the right to education, the right to participate in public life in free elections. France supports all those who fight with determination to ensure these rights are protected. As democracies are undermined, we must clearly reaffirm what unites us: our commitment to the universality of human rights and the principles underlying our free societies.

 “The death penalty is a special and eternal sign of barbarism. Wherever the death penalty is imposed, barbarism dominates; wherever the death penalty is rare, civilization reigns.” Thus spoke Victor Hugo in 1848. We cite his words and continue his fight today, to make this civilizational project a reality.

Through your presence in great numbers, through your commitments and your accounts, you give substance to these values and you bring the momentum that we need to achieve universal abolition of the death penalty. Thanks to your collective mobilization, all of you here today, the promise of a world without the death penalty is accessible. So let’s keep our heads high, let’s not give up, and let us work relentlessly to achieve universal abolition.

Thank you.