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
OCTOBER 5, 2021MissouriDEATH PENALTYUSA - Missouri. Ernest Johnson executed
Despite pleas for clemency for intellectual disability
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2021Papua New GuineaDEATH PENALTY
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: COURT RULING CLEARS WAY FOR FIRST EXECUTIONS IN NEARLY 70 YEARS
A ruling by Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court on 30 July 2021 cleared the way for the country’s first executions in almost 70 years.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2021DEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: SC COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY OF 3 CONVICTS TO LIFE-TERM IMPRISONMENT
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 18 August 2021 upheld death sentence of an adult man and commuted three other youths’ death sentence to life-term imprisonment finding them guilty of raping and killing a girl.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2021OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Another step forward for Julius Jones
A death row inmate whose case has raised a lot of attention
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 5 Death Sentences Commuted to Prison Terms
For drug-related charges
AUGUST 31, 2021VirginiaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Virginia. ‘Martinsville 7’ Granted Posthumous Pardons 70 Years After Their Executions
Seven young Black men sentenced to death by all-white juries
AUGUST 27, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. First opinion in favor of parole for Sirhan Sihran
Man who assassinated Robert F Kennedy
JULY 1, 2021Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: DEATH ROW PRISONERS END HUNGER STRIKE
Death row prisoners in Sri Lanka, who were on a hunger strike demanding commutation of their sentences, similar to the Presidential pardon extended to a former parliamentarian facing capital punishment earlier in the week, have ended their protest after o
JUNE 26, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ayatollah Khamenei grants clemency to 5,100 prisoners
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
- JUNE 25, 2021Sri LankaDEATH PENALTY
SRI LANKA: DEATH ROW INMATES PROTEST EX-LAWMAKER'S PARDON
About 150 death row inmates were on a hunger strike on 25 June 2021 to demand their sentences be commuted after Sri Lanka’s president pardoned a former lawmaker who had been condemned for an election-related killing.
JUNE 16, 2021North CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - North Carolina. Governor pardons ex-death row inmate Charles Ray Finch
Who spent more than 40 years in prison
MAY 19, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: DEATH PENALTY AWARDED TO MURDER CONVICT COMMUTED TO LIFE SENTENCE
The Sindh High Court commuted on 18 May 2021 the death sentence awarded to a murder convict into life imprisonment.
MAY 18, 2021IdahoDEATH PENALTYUSA - Idaho. Pizzuto's Execution On Hold
Scheduled to be executed June 2, 2021
MAY 8, 2021GuyanaDEATH PENALTYGUYANA: COURT UPHOLDS WIFE KILLER’S CONVICTION BUT SETS ASIDE DEATH SENTENCE
The Guyana Court of Appeal on 7 May 2021 upheld the conviction of Rupert Browne for the 2011 murder of his common-law wife, Seema Singh, but set aside the death sentence imposed upon him.
MAY 3, 2021BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: LUKASHENKO PARDONS 2 BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Illya Kostseu (21) and Stanislau Kostseu (19), who were sentenced to death in January 2020, have been pardoned, human rights centre Viasna reported on 30 April 2021 with reference to the family.
- APRIL 28, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MADRAS HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF CONVICT TO LIFE
The Madras High Court on 26 April 2021 reduced the death sentence awarded by a lower court to life term in a sensational rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Coimbatore in 2019, which sent shock waves in Tamil Nadu.
APRIL 19, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Sonia Sotomayor’s Lonely Battle at the Supreme Court
To Give the Voiceless a Voice
APRIL 14, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death sentence of Arsalan Khodkam commuted to life imprisonment
A Kurdish political prisoner
APRIL 6, 2021EthiopiaDEATH PENALTYETHIOPIA: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY AFTER KILLING THREE PEOPLE
A court in Oromia Regional state has ruled a capital punishment for a man convicted of killing a man in the region’s Ilu Ababor Zone, the State-Run Broadcaster reported on 4 April 2021.
APRIL 6, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SINDH HIGH COURT COMMUTES THREE DEATH SENTENCES
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on 5 April 2021 commuted the death sentences that had been handed down against three men to life imprisonment, in two separate cases.
- MARCH 31, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: SHC COMMUTES MAN’S DEATH SENTENCE INTO LIFE TERM
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on 30 March 2021 commuted the death sentence of a convicted man into life term in a murder case of his wife.
MARCH 30, 2021VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: ACTIVISTS FACING DEATH REFUSE TO PLEAD FOR AMNESTY, ASSERTING INNOCENCE
Two Vietnamese land-rights activists facing the death penalty after being convicted for their roles in a deadly clash with police last year at the Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi are refusing to ask for amnesty in the case, saying the move would amount to
MARCH 24, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SC CONVERTS DEATH SENTENCE INTO LIFE-TERM
The Supreme Court (SC) on 22 March 2021 converted the death sentence of a murder convict into life imprisonment.
- MARCH 23, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE IMPOSED ON YOUNGSTER CONVICTED FOR MURDERING NEIGHBOUR
The Madras High Court on 17 March 2021 commuted from death to life sentence the punishment imposed by a trial court on an unemployed youngster convicted for murdering his 54-year-old woman neighbour in a residential complex.
- MARCH 17, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: SHC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE INTO LIFE TERM IN A MURDER CASE
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on 17 March 2021 commuted the death sentence of accused Farhan Ahmed to life imprisonment in alleged murder case.
MARCH 8, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN WHO RAPED FIVE-YEAR-OLD GIRL GETS DEATH SENTENCE
Rawalpindi Additional District and Sessions Judge Jehangir Gondal awarded a death sentence and imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on a man convicted of raping a five-year-old girl.
MARCH 8, 2021OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Julius Jones’ commutation request passes first hurdle
Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 to advance the case
MARCH 1, 2021MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF EX-TOW TRUCK DRIVER FOR MURDER OF AMBANK FOUNDER
The Federal Court in Putrajaya on 1 March 2021 upheld the conviction and death sentence of a former tow truck driver for the murder of Arab-Malaysian Bank (AmBank) founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi in 2013.
- FEBRUARY 25, 2021OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Oklahoma. Supporters of Jones submitted more 6.2 million signatures (including HoC’s)
supporting his petition for clemency
- FEBRUARY 22, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: ‘PRESIDENT UNCLE, PLEASE FORGIVE MY MOTHER’, DEATH ROW CONVICT SHABNAM'S SON SEEKS MERCY
The son of a death row convict in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha on 18 February 2021 appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to commute her death sentence.