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
DECEMBER 19, 2025PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Kevin Marinelli resentenced to life in prison without parole
DECEMBER 15, 2025DEATH PENALTYUSA - Georgia. The execution of Stacey Humphreys, set for December 17, has been delayed
Amid questions of conflicts of interest among the state Board of Pardons
DECEMBER 11, 2025TennesseeDEATH PENALTYUSA - Tennessee. Harold Nichols was executed by lethal injection on December 11
64, White, on death row for 35 years
- DECEMBER 4, 2025United NationsDEATH PENALTY
UN - Abolition of the death penalty at the United Nations Human Rights Council 60th session
NOVEMBER 14, 2025South CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - South Carolina. Stephen Bryant, 44, White, was executed. By firing squad
It is the state’s third such killing in year
NOVEMBER 13, 2025OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Tremane Wood granted clemency on the morning of his scheduled execution
- NOVEMBER 7, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Prisoners off death row protest transfer to supermax lockup
NOVEMBER 5, 2025OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Parole Board recommends clemency for Tremane Wood
The execution is scheduled forNovember 13
OCTOBER 29, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sharifeh Mohammadi’s death sentence commuted to 30 years’ imprisonment
Human rights defender
OCTOBER 21, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KERALA HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE AWARDED IN KOLIYOOR RAPE AND MURDER CASE
Kerala High Court has commuted the death sentence awarded to Anil Kumar, alias Kolusu Binu, of Vembayam in Thiruvananthapuram, the first accused in the 2016 Koliyoor murder case.
OCTOBER 15, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MADRAS HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE, SAYS ACCUSED NOT MENACE TO SOCIETY
Madras high court on October 11, 2025 commuted the death sentence awarded to a man to life imprisonment in a case where he murdered his cousin because she refused to give him money to settle his debts, in 2021.
OCTOBER 15, 2025ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: FORMER INNER MONGOLIA LEGISLATOR SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH REPRIEVE
Wang Bo, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes exceeding 449 million yuan ($62.88 million), a court in Hubei provin
OCTOBER 13, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: TINUBU GRANTS PRESIDENTIAL PARDON TO HERBERT MACAULAY, 174 OTHERS
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted presidential pardon and clemency to 175 persons.
OCTOBER 10, 2025IndianaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Indiana. Roy Lee Ward, 53, White, was executed on October 10
By lethal injection
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2025ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: EX-AGRICULTURE MINISTER SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH REPRIEVE FOR HUGE BRIBES
Tang Renjian, former minister of agriculture and rural affairs, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery, a court in Changchun, Jilin province, announced on September 28, 2025.
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2025KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: MURDER CONVICT GETS 22 YEARS AFTER APPEALING DEATH SENTENCE
The High Court in Eldoret has issued a major ruling reducing the sentence of a man who had spent more than a decade on death row.
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF FAKE HEALER TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Calcutta High Court on September 18, 2025 commuted the death sentence of a 45-year-old man - convicted of murdering a woman and her daughter - to a life sentence, but directed no remission for 40 years.
AUGUST 29, 2025UtahDEATH PENALTYUSA - Utah. Ralph Menzies will not be executed on Sept. 5
- AUGUST 24, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: KENYAN MARGARET NDUTA'S DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING COMMUTED TO LIFE
Margaret Nduta, the Kenyan woman condemned to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking, can now heave a sigh of relief after a Vietnamese court on July 31, 2025 commuted her death penalty to a life sentence.
AUGUST 21, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: PRAWA BOSS CALLS FOR ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
Dr Uju Agomoh, Executive Director, Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), has renewed her call for the abolition of the death penalty in Nigeria.
AUGUST 11, 2025CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Business Leader Calls for End to “Broken” Death Penalty System
Matthew Stepka, on behalf of a coalition of over 500 business leaders
JULY 27, 2025AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. URGENT ACTION for David Roberts
Jury voted for life, execution scheduled for August 21
- JULY 16, 2025YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN POSTPONES EXECUTION OF INDIAN NURSE ON DEATH ROW
Authorities in Yemen have postponed the execution of an Indian nurse who is on death row after being found guilty of murder, Indian foreign ministry sources say.
- JULY 10, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Mid-Year Review: New Death Sentences Low, Increase in Executions
Death Penalty Information Center analysis
- JUNE 26, 2025ItalyDEATH PENALTY
2025 WORLD DRUG DAY
HoC signs the collective statement
JUNE 26, 2025CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. ACLU Joins Calls to Gov. Newsom to Commute All Death Sentences
JUNE 18, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: SYABU TRAFFICKER’S DEATH SENTENCE REPLACED WITH LIFE IMPRISONMENT
A self-employed man, who received the capital punishment for trafficking in syabu, escaped the hangman’s noose after the Court of Appeal in Kota Kinabalu on June 17, 2025 substituted it with an imprisonment for life.
JUNE 12, 2025OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. John Hanson, 61, Black, was executed on June 12
Per lethal injection, the 22nd execution of 2025 in the US
JUNE 8, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: NIGER PARDONS 11 INMATES ON DEATH ROW
Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger State has granted unconditional state pardon to 11 convicted persons who were on death row.
MAY 31, 2025CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Patricia Krenwinkel is recommended for parole
A follower of Charles Manson's sect, convicted of 7 murders, she has been detained for 56 years