Commutations of sentence and acts of clemency
Archive theme
A death sentence can be turned into a prison sentence by an act of clemency: commutation, pardon, amnesty, remission. These rest with heads of state, courts and clemency boards, and not infrequently arrive within hours of an execution.
For the association they are a concrete front: every commutation is a life, and the countries that grant many of them are often the ones closest to a moratorium in fact. This page collects the news on commutations, pardons and acts of clemency.
Latest news
SEPTEMBER 14, 2026TaiwanDEATH PENALTYTaiwan: death row inmate dies of illness; 34 remain
SEPTEMBER 8, 2026ThailandDEATH PENALTYThailand: killer of Hua Hin hotel receptionist sentenced to death
AUGUST 15, 2026PakistanDEATH PENALTYPakistan: SC upholds death sentence in ex-wife’s murder
JULY 30, 2026NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: BRIDE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING HUSBAND NINE DAYS AFTER WEDDING IN KANO
JULY 6, 2026ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINESE COURT HANDS FORMER LOCAL OFFICIAL RARE DEATH SENTENCE IN $324 MILLION GRAFT CASE
- APRIL 21, 2026Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
MYANMAR PARDONS OVER 4,000 PRISONERS, INCLUDING DEPOSED PRESIDENT
Thousands of prisoners in Myanmar have been granted amnesty or had their sentences reduced.
APRIL 16, 2026OhioDEATH PENALTYUSA - Ohio. Charles Maxwell’s Death Sentence overturned
Under State’s Serious Mental Illness Law
- APRIL 8, 2026IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIAN GRANDMOTHER FREED FROM MALAYSIA’S DEATH ROW AFTER 15 YEARS RETURNS HOME
An Indonesian grandmother who spent about 15 years on death row in Malaysia for drug trafficking on April 2, 2026 returned home after receiving clemency
MARCH 26, 2026PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Supreme Court Overturns Mandatory Life-Without-Parole for 2nd Degree Murder
MARCH 25, 2026IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY IN LUDHIANA RAPE-MURDER CASE
The Punjab and Haryana High Court commuted the death sentence of a 28-year-old man convicted of raping and murdering a 4-year-7-month-old child in Ludhiana, the Tribune reported on March 20, 2026.
MARCH 17, 2026TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Demond Bluntson’s death sentence turned to life without parole
MARCH 10, 2026AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Gov. Ivey commutes Charles Burton’s death sentence
He had been scheduled to be executed on March 12
MARCH 10, 2026NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KIDNAPPING, ARMED ROBBERY IN KWARA
Justice Ahmed Aliyu Gegele of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on March 5, 2026 sentenced two men to death by hanging for kidnapping and armed robbery, among other offences.
MARCH 8, 2026United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Dale Baich: A defender on death row
Dale Baich has watched 16 men die
MARCH 2, 2026United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Constitutional protection for prisoners
Trump, Biden, federal commutees and a judge
- FEBRUARY 13, 2026United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal Judge: Government Is Not Above the Law, Nor Are Former Death-Row Inmates Beneath Its Protection
FEBRUARY 12, 2026OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Kendrick Simpson, 45, was executed on February 12
FEBRUARY 9, 2026IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: NO DEATH SENTENCES CONFIRMED BY SUPREME COURT FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR
The Supreme Court of India has not confirmed a single death penalty in the last three years, according to an annual statistics report on death penalties in India published on February 4, 2026 by The Square Circle Clinic
FEBRUARY 2, 2026AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Victim’s Daughter and Juror Oppose Execution of Charles Burton
JANUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hrana Report on 23rd day of protests: 4,029 confirmed fatalities, 9,049 fatalities under review
Internet Blackout, Media Clampdown, and Cancellation of Davos Invitation
JANUARY 17, 2026United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Trump’s vendetta against federal death row inmates
Sends prisoners who received commutations to “Alcatraz of the Rockies”
JANUARY 15, 2026CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. 20 years ago the last execution
On January 17, 2006, California executed Clarence Ray Allen
- JANUARY 12, 2026DEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR ABHI VERMA KIDNAPPING-MURDER CONVICTS
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has commuted to life imprisonment the death penalty of two men convicted for kidnapping and murdering a minor boy for ransom in 2005
JANUARY 10, 2026DEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Lush Cosmetics Launches Campaign to End Death Penalty
JANUARY 6, 2026DEATH PENALTYUSA - 2025 Was Not a Good Year for Clemency in Capital Cases
- DECEMBER 28, 2025DEATH PENALTY
USA - Georgia. Georgia Stacey Humphreys' execution warrant expired
DECEMBER 23, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: S’COURT UPHOLDS MARYAM SANDA’S DEATH SENTENCE, OVERRULES TINUBU’S CLEMENCY
The Supreme Court on December 12, 2025 upheld the death sentence imposed on Maryam Sanda, daughter-in-law of a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, over the killing of her husband, Bilyamin Bello.
DECEMBER 23, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: ADAMAWA GOVERNOR PARDONS FARMER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING HERDER
Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri on December 23, 2025 granted a full pardon to Sunday Jackson, a farmer who was sentenced to death in 2019 for killing a herder during a confrontation on his farmland.
DECEMBER 22, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 8 men executed in various prisons on December 22
- DECEMBER 22, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE OF MAN WHO BEHEADED BROTHER COMMUTED TO 20-YEAR JAIL TERM
Making it clear that not every brutal murder warrants capital punishment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 22, 2025 commuted the death sentence of Ashok Kumar