Paris Perspective #17: Forty years since the guillotine fell silent - Cécile Coudriou
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It's been four decades since the mighty guillotine, nicknamed the "national razor", was closeted for good when France abolished the death penalty – becoming the 36th country in the world to do so. Paris Perspective looks back at the landmark legislation that struck capital punishment from France's statute books, and how the campaign to end state executions is being waged elsewhere in the world.
The process that sent France on the path towards ending the death penalty began at a conference in Stockholm in 1977 – incidentally the same year the guillotine, which famously lopped off some 10,000 heads during the French Revolution alone, was last used.
Curiously, French people in the 1970s were quite attached to the beaheading device, with more than 60 percent of the population in favour. At the time, Amnesty International spearheaded the campaign for the universal abolition of state sanctioned executions.
The Stockholm conference was the first time the rights group went beyond international law, given that it does not prohibit capital punishment for the most serious of crimes.
"We had a lot of debates, internally ... so we decided in 1977 to call for an international conference in Stockholm, which led to the famous declaration," Cécile Coudriou, president of Amnesty International France, told RFI.
"For the first time, the objective of universal abolition of the death penalty became our motto."
The Stockholm declaration was the opening salvo of a long battle for the global eradication of execution from the statute books. It also gave purpose to Amnesty's interpretation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which holds that every person has a right to life and that nobody should suffer "cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment".
"For us, this is our definition of the death penalty", Coudriou says. "It was only natural ... even though it wasn't easy for all to agree that this should be our objective."
Turning the tide of French opinion
In the four years that followed the Stockholm declaration, the people of France needed to be convinced to give up the guillotine.
In September 1981, justice minister Robert Badinter delivered an empassioned speech to the National Assembly, turning the tide of French opinion. So what were the arguments that won over the people?
He tore down the the illusion that the death penalty would deter people from committing crimes, Coudriou explains, adding that the idea of justice via execution is an myth that is "lost to revenge".
Indeed modern statistics prove this to be true.
Badinter succeeded in countering arguements for state execution as a deterrent by giving examples of those who had been sentenced to death for committing horrendous crimes.
"If they were in jail, what kind of danger would they represent to society? He destroyed one argument after the other. He could feel this emotional and unhealthy attachment to death penalty," Coudriou recalls.
"But he was very clever, by making the punishment as concrete and as real as possible – not as an abstract concept, but by showing us the reality of the blade.
"He used the sound of the blade, cutting in two, a man who is still alive."
As the world's leading executioner will China ever abolish the death penalty?
Religion sets the US execution agenda
In 2020, the United States executed 17 people. And seven have been put to death so far this year. In a modern Western democracy such as the US, what are the arguments put forward by individual states for the retention of capital punishment?
Coudriou says religion explains a lot, adding that southern states are strongly attached to death penalty.
"It's a vision of justice which is again confused with revenge. There is the same belief that if people have killed, it's not only God, but also men who should be responsible for protecting future lives by killing."
For Amnesty International, that argument is not only illogical, but unacceptable.
The death penalty represents the opposite of civilisation.
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Abolition must become a pillar of French diplomacy
On the world stage, France prides itself as the birthplace of enlightenment and the land of human rights.
Since striking the death penalty from its own statute books, what kind of role have successive French governments played in pushing for the abolition of the death penalty elsewhere?
Is the eradication of capital punishment a pillar of French diplomacy?
Coudriou says that it is "exactly that line" that Amnesty International is pushing as France marks the 40th anniversary of abolition.
"France's voice can be heard in different parts of the world, particularly in Africa because of the historical links," she says.
"We believe that France could play a role in creating original dynamics ... like in Chad last year and in Sierra Leone a few months ago.
"If we are exemplary we can create a domino effect. The same goes for democracies like India, the US or Japan. These three countries are potential targets for advocacy work because they want to be seen as stronger democracies."
For Coudriou, France has to do more and put the abolition of the death penalty to the forefront of its diplomatic agenda.
Written, produced & presented by David Coffey
Recorded, mixed & edited by Yann Bourdelas and Erwan Rome
Paris Perspective #17 - 40 years since the abolition of the guillotine - AI president Cécile Coudriou
Cécile Coudriou is the president of Amnesty International's French chapter based in Paris.
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