12/10/2026
Robert Badinter, entered the Panthéon on 9 October 2025, exactly forty four years after his law entered into force.
His words to the National Assembly in France on 17 September 1981 remain the finest summary of why this fight continues:
« Aussi terribles, aussi odieux que soient leurs actes, il n’est point d’hommes en cette terre dont la culpabilité soit totale et dont il faille pour toujours désespérer totalement. Aussi prudente que soit la justice, aussi mesurés et angoissés que soient les femmes et les hommes qui jugent, la justice demeure humaine, donc faillible. »
“No matter how terrible or heinous their acts may be, there are no people on this earth whose guilt is absolute and whom we must forever despair of entirely. No matter how prudent justice may be, no matter how measured and anguished the men and women who judge may be, justice remains human—and therefore fallible.”
https://freedomofconscience.eu/every-day-must-be-a-10-october-world-day-against-the-death-penalty-2026/?fbclid=IwY2xjawU5nAdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mBWJyaWQRMDBzOTNPSEs3WkQ5TkZIMFJzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe7MQNYgNZUZuZhOOZXlXHwMshuCFxUqt8mcmhh-VKV6khKEJtVCv28p3ZsAE_aem_ceglMMaoE9x7T95fDfc8gw
On 10 October, the World Day Against the Death Penalty, United Nations human rights experts renewed their call for the complete abolition of capital punishment. Their message this year is simple: look beyond labels, crimes and sentences, and recognize the humanity of those affected. The death penalt...
