Opinion | Pourquoi je me bats contre la peine de mort

Opinion | Pourquoi je me bats contre la peine de mort - rédacteur de DPN

17 juin 1939, dernière exécution publique en France. Décapitation d'Eugène Weidmann à Versailles.

Click here to Google translate the following text into your own language

Un ami tentait de me convaincre hier soir, au cours d'une discussion que j'ai pourtant pris l'habitude d'éviter depuis des années, qu'il existait des "cas", des crimes d'une telle monstruosité qu'ils justifiaient la peine de mort, notamment les crimes contre les enfants.

Cette discussion était inutile -- mais je le savais en m'y engageant. Elle n'a débouché sur rien, sinon de l'animosité et des haussements de ton. Elle a renforcé mon ami dans ses convictions, mon apparente "cécité face à la réalité" légitimant un peu plus sa position et la justesse de son point de vue. J'ai décidé de ne pas pousser le débat plus avant.

Le texte d'Albert Camus reproduit ci-dessous explique admirablement pourquoi je me bats depuis des années contre la peine de mort, quel que soit le crime commis par le condamné. Le deuxième paragraphe est celui qui définit mon combat :

"Peu avant la guerre de 1914, un assassin dont le crime était particulièrement révoltant (il avait massacré une famille de fermiers avec leurs enfants) fut condamné à mort en Alger. Il s'agissait d'un ouvrier agricole qui avait tué dans une sorte de délire du sang, mais avait aggravé son cas en volant ses victimes. L'affaire eut un grand retentissement. On estima généralement que la décapitation était une peine trop douce pour un pareil monstre. Telle fut, m'a-t-on dit, l'opinion de mon père que le meurtre des enfants, en particulier, avait indigné. L'une des rares choses que je sache de lui, en tout cas, est qu'il voulut assister à l'exécution, pour la première fois de sa vie. Il se leva dans la nuit pour se rendre sur les lieux du supplice, à l'autre bout de la ville, au milieu d'un grand concours de peuple. Ce qu'il vit, ce matin-là, il n'en dit rien à personne. Ma mère raconte seulement qu'il rentra en coup de vent, le visage bouleversé, refusa de parler, s'étendit un moment sur le lit et se mit tout d'un coup à vomir. Il venait de découvrir la réalité qui se cachait sous les grandes formules dont on la masquait. Au lieu de penser aux enfants massacrés, il ne pouvait plus penser qu'à ce corps pantelant qu'on venait de jeter sur une planche pour lui couper le cou.

"Il faut croire que cet acte rituel est bien horrible pour arriver à vaincre l'indignation d'un homme simple et droit et pour qu'un châtiment qu'il estimait cent fois mérité n'ait eu finalement d'autre effet que de lui retourner le cœur. Quand la suprême justice donne seulement à vomir à l'honnête homme qu'elle est censée protéger, il paraît difficile de soutenir qu'elle est destinée, comme ce devrait être sa fonction, à apporter plus de paix et d'ordre dans la cité. Il éclate au contraire qu'elle n'est pas moins révoltante que le crime, et que ce nouveau meurtre, loin de réparer l'offense faite au corps social, ajoute une nouvelle souillure à la première."

- Albert Camus, Réflexions sur la guillotine (1957)

- Photo : 17 juin 1939, dernière exécution publique en France. Décapitation d'Eugène Weidmann à Versailles.

Source: DNP Editor, Opinion du rédacteur, July 19, 2020

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