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
FEBRUARY 15, 2021Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTYMYANMAR: JUNTA PARDONS OVER 23,000 PRISONERS AS PROTESTS CONTINUE
Myanmar's new military-led State Administration Council on 12 February 2021 announced the remittances of more than 23,000 prisoners, both local and foreigners, as protests against the coup continued for a seventh consecutive day.
FEBRUARY 13, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: EGYPTIAN ALI ABU AL-QASIM’S DEATH SENTENCE REDUCED TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON
Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Criminal Court sentenced on 11 February 2021 Egyptian engineer Ali Abul-Qasim to 25 years in prison after cancelling a death penalty over his conviction in a drug trafficking case.
FEBRUARY 10, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED FOR TWO MENTALLY ILL CONVICTS
In a landmark ruling, Pakistan's top court on 10 February 2021 commuted the death sentences of two mentally ill prisoners who have spent decades on death row, the first such ruling in this conservative Muslim-majority nation.
FEBRUARY 8, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: THREE YOUTHS GET PRISON SENTENCE INSTEAD OF DEATH
Three young Saudi men who faced death sentences for acts they were accused of committing as minors have been handed a 10-year prison sentence instead, the Saudi Human Rights Commission said on 7 February 2021.
FEBRUARY 3, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN EXECUTED FOR ABDUCTING AND RAPING A 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL
The Qinzhou Intermediate People's Court in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on 2 February 2021 carried out the execution of Yang Guangyi, who raped a 10-year-old girl.
- JANUARY 28, 2021ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
ZAMBIA: PRESIDENT LUNGU REMOVES 246 INMATES FROM DEATH ROW
Zambian President Edgar Lungu has removed 246 inmates who were on death row and commuted their sentences to life sentences, a government official said on 27 January 2021.
JANUARY 27, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 65% OF DEATH SENTENCES IN 2020 INVOLVED SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Project 39A at National Law University, Delhi, published the fifth edition of the “Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistic Report”
JANUARY 26, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Criminal Justice Leaders Urge Biden To End Death Penalty
as 40 members of Congress already did
- JANUARY 22, 2021TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Death sentence of Charles Brownlow commuted to life without parole
for intellectual disability
JANUARY 4, 2021Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTYDR CONGO: PRESIDENT PARDONS TWO KILLERS OF LAURENT-DESIRE KABILA
DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi’s office said that he has pardoned two men convicted over the assassination of former ruler Laurent-Desire Kabila, the father of his political rival Joseph Kabila, AFP reported on 2 January 2021.
JANUARY 4, 2021NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: KADUNA GOV EL-RUFAI PARDONS 12 PRISONERS, COMMUTES A DEATH SENTENCE
Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State has granted pardon to 12 prisoners in the state to mark the beginning of 2021.
- JANUARY 1, 2021DEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal. Appeals court vacates order delaying execution of Lisa Montgomery
The only woman on US death row is scheduled to be executed on January 12.
DECEMBER 26, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Stay of Lisa Montgomery’s execution.
USA - Federal. Stay of Lisa Montgomery’s execution.
DECEMBER 16, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Death Penalty Information Center “Year End Report”
USA - Death Penalty Information Center “Year End Report”
- DECEMBER 16, 2020TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Six death sentenced were reformed this year due to intellectual disability.
USA - Texas. Six death sentenced were reformed this year due to intellectual disability.
DECEMBER 10, 2020TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: DEATH SENTENCES OF 256 CONVICTS COMMUTED
Tanzania’s president on 9 December 2020 commuted the sentences of 256 convicts on death row, marking a first for a country that has not executed anyone in nearly three decades.
DECEMBER 10, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Brandon Bernard, 40, Black, was executed.
USA - Federal. Brandon Bernard, 40, Black, was executed.
DECEMBER 9, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - "Death Penalty Action": Voices of Opposition to Federal Executions Grow Louder
USA - "Death Penalty Action": Voices of Opposition to Federal Executions Grow Louder
- DECEMBER 9, 2020TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Clifton Williams ineligible for death penalty because of intellectual disability
USA - Texas. Clifton Williams ineligible for death penalty because of intellectual disability
- DECEMBER 3, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE OF 2003 RIMSHA RAPE, MURDER CASE CONVICT UPHELD BY SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on 2 December 2020 denied the appeal of the accused in the 2003 case pertaining to the rape and murder of a minor and upheld the death sentence which had previously been awarded to accused Shabaan.
NOVEMBER 25, 2020TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Geronimo Gutierrez death sentence commuted becouse of intellectual disability
USA - Texas. Geronimo Gutierrez death sentence commuted becouse of intellectual disability
NOVEMBER 24, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: PHC COMMUTES CONVICT’S DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IN PRISON
The Peshawar High Court on 19 November 2020 commuted the death sentence of the man convicted for the 2017 lynching of university student Mashal Khan, converting it to life imprisonment.
NOVEMBER 23, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Kim Kardashian visits death row inmate Julius Jones.
USA - Oklahoma. Kim Kardashian visits death row inmate Julius Jones.
- NOVEMBER 19, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Judge Delays Federal Execution Of Lisa Montgomery
USA - Judge Delays Federal Execution Of Lisa Montgomery
NOVEMBER 13, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Lawyers for Lisa Montgomery Contract COVID-19 During Prison Visits, Seek Stay of Execution.
USA - Federal. Lawyers for Lisa Montgomery Contract COVID-19 During Prison Visits, Seek Stay of Execution.
- NOVEMBER 12, 2020DEATH BY PUNISHMENT
COVID EMERGENCY: RITA BERNARDINI IS ON HUNGER STRIKE FOR AMNESTY, INDULT, SPECIAL EARLY RELEASE
From midnight on November 10, 2020, the President of Hands Off Cain Rita Bernardini has embarked on a hunger strike aimed at the Government and Parliament to address what is happening in prisons.
NOVEMBER 9, 2020DEATH PENALTYUSA - What Biden’s Win Means for Criminal Justice and the Death Penalty
USA - What Biden’s Win Means for Criminal Justice and the Death Penalty
- OCTOBER 8, 2020EgyptDEATH PENALTY
UNITED NATIONS DENOUNCES EXECUTION OF 15 OPPOSITIONISTS IN EGYPT
The United Nations (UN) on 7 October 2020 revealed that some of the 15 oppositionists executed by the Egyptian authorities on charges of terrorism, violence and incitement to murder were tortured and did not receive fair trials.
- OCTOBER 7, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DELHI MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDERING 11-YEAR-OLD BOY
A Delhi court on 6 October 2020 awarded death penalty to a 32-year man for killing an 11-year-old child after kidnapping him in 2009, saying the act was “cruel and gruesome and did not deserve leniency”.
OCTOBER 6, 2020BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY OF 3 CONVICTS
The Supreme Court on 6 October 2020 commuted the death penalties of three convicts to imprisonment till natural death in the Gopal Krishna Muhuri murder case.