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 19, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. KALAM'S MOVE BOOSTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's direction to review the cases of some people on death row left the government in a dilemma, but it appeared to have given a new momentum to the campaign against the death penalty.
- OCTOBER 17, 2005IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. DEATH ROW MILITANTS FOR BALI BOMBS GET CHANCE FOR PARDON
Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Imam Samudra on death row for their role in the 2002 Bali bombings would be given one more chance to request a pardon, officials told activists who held a protest to demand immediate executions for the convicts.
- OCTOBER 16, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. DEATH ROW MERCY PLEAS: PRESIDENT KALAM IN FAVOUR OF PARDON TO MOST
in a move without any precedent, President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam advised the Government to consider a pardon for a majority of an estimated 50 individuals on death row whose mercy petitions were pending before him.
- OCTOBER 7, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. HIGH COURT COMMUTES STUDENT'S DEATH SENTENCE
the Andhra Pradesh High Court, India, commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence of Yelchuri Manohar, a 24 year old student convicted of murdering his classmate.
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2005PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. MAN HANGED FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF SEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Niaz Ahmed, a man sentenced to death for raping and killing a seven-year-old girl, was executed in eastern Pakistan after President Gen. Pervez Musharraf turned down his plea for clemency.
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. INDIAN NATIONAL ON DEATH ROW IN PAKISTAN TO BE SPARED, REPORT
Islamabad assured New Delhi that Sarabjit Singh, an Indian sentenced to be hanged in Pakistan on bombing and spying charges, would be reprieved, the Hindu newspaper said.
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. HIGH COURT REDUCES MAN'S DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IN PRISON
the Sendai High Court, Japan, reduced from a death sentence to life in prison the punishment for Kiyoshi Ishii, a man convicted of killing a couple by torching their house in Fukushima Prefecture in 2000, denying he intended to kill.
- AUGUST 29, 2005IndianaDEATH PENALTY
Gov. Mitch Daniels commuted the sentence of Arthur P. Baird II to life without the possibility of parole.
Gov. Mitch Daniels commuted the sentence of Arthur P. Baird II to life without the possibility of parole.
- AUGUST 23, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. PRESIDENT COMMUTES AUSTRALIAN'S DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Vietnam's President Tran Duc Luong commuted to life imprisonment a death sentence handed to Tran Van Thanh for drug trafficking.
- AUGUST 13, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. COURT AFFIRMS DEATH FOR THREE
former bus driver Hanafi Mat Hassan, 37, failed to overturn his death sentence for the murder of a 24-year-old female computer engineer.
- AUGUST 10, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. INSURANCE EXECUTIVE SPARED HANGMAN'S NOOSE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
the Malaysian Court of Appeal commuted the death sentence passed on Denish Madhavan, a 33-year-old insurance executive, for drug trafficking.
- JULY 29, 2005TexasDEATH PENALTY
TEXAS, USA. DRIFTER EXECUTED FOR SLAYING OF STUDENT
David Martinez was executed for the rape and murder of a woman who was attacked on a jogging trail eight years ago.
- JULY 29, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER APPEALS TO VIETNAM FOR CLEMENCY FOR AUSTRALIANS ON DEATH ROW
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he had appealed to Vietnam for clemency for two Australians facing the death penalty for drug smuggling.
- JULY 27, 2005BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
BOTSWANA. COURT QUASHES DEATH SENTENCE
it was tears of joy for death row inmate Mothusi Phiri when the Court of Appeal substituted his death sentence with a 20-year jail term and upheld a five-year jail sentence for attempted murder.
- JULY 26, 2005EgyptDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP CONFIRMS EXECUTION OF FOUR EGYPTIAN NATIONALS
The Libyan League for Human Rights has confirmed the execution, by firing squad, of four Egyptian nationals who, together with 11 other Egyptian expatriates, were "convicted" of "murder" by a Libyan court in 2004.
- JUNE 22, 2005TexasDEATH PENALTY
TEXAS, USA. GOVERNOR COMMUTES 28 DEATH SENTENCES
Gov. Rick Perry commuted the death sentences of 28 convicted killers. Perry ordered the commutations in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in March that the Constitution forbids executing anyone for a crime committed before the age of 18.
- JUNE 13, 2005Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. JUDGE TEMPORARILY BARS THE HANGING OF CONVICTED MURDERERS
High Court judge Ian Benjamin ordered that Trinidad and Tobago not carry out any executions for at least four days.
- JUNE 10, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT TO PLEAD FOR DRUG SMUGGLER FACING FIRING SQUAD IN VIETNAM
the Australian federal government said it would plead for the life of Mai Cong Thanh, an Australian sentenced to death in Vietnam for conspiring to smuggle heroin.
- JUNE 7, 2005Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. STATE TO PAY WOMAN 'TOO LONG IN DEATH ROW'
following an Appeal Court ruling, it emerged that Trinidad and Tobago would have to compensate Angela Ramdeen, a woman who remained on death row for more than five years, because of the State's failure to inform her that she could no longer be executed.
- JUNE 6, 2005KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA. GOVERNMENT PLANS COMMUTING DEATH PENALTIES TO LIFE, MINISTER
the Kenyan government planned to commute death sentences to life in prison, Kiraitu Murungi, the country's justice and constitutional affairs minister, announced.
- JUNE 6, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. SUPREME COURT WILL CONSIDER WILL OF CUTULI FAMILY IN TRIALS OF ZAR JAN AND REZA KHAN
“We take very much into consideration the will of the family of Maria Grazia Cutuli, their requests are very influential,” stated an internal source at the Afghan Supreme Court the day after the arrest of Mohamed Zar Jan, presumed leader of the gang which
- JUNE 4, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
THE PHILIPPINES. GOVERNMENT SEEKS MERCY FOR DEATH ROW CONVICT IN SAUDI ARABIA
the Philippines asked Saudi Arabia to spare the life of Rey Cortez, a Filipino sentenced to death for murder, the Filipino President Gloria Arroyo's press secretary Ignacio Bunye said.
- MAY 25, 2005IndianaDEATH PENALTY
INDIANA, USA. GREGORY JOHNSON, MAN WHO WANTED TO DONATE LIVER, EXECUTED
Indiana executed Gregory Johnson, a convicted murderer who had sought a reprieve so he could donate part of his liver to an ailing sister.
- MAY 23, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. RETRIAL SOUGHT IN CASE OF PRISONER EXECUTED IN 1947 MURDER CASE
the family of Takeo Nishi, a man executed in 1975 over a murder in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture asked the Fukuoka High Court for a retrial of the case, saying he had been tortured into confessing, lawyers for the family said.
- MAY 19, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. HINDU WHO KILLED MISSIONARY ESCAPES DEATH PENALTY
Dara Singh, a Hindu extremist convicted of killing an Australian missionary and his two sons had his death sentence reduced to life imprisonment by a court in eastern India.
- MAY 19, 2005ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND. TWO DRUG SUSPECTS SENTENCED TO DEATH, THREE OTHERS HAVE SENTENCE COMMUTED
the Thai Appeals Court sentenced two drug suspects, earlier acquitted by the Criminal Court, to death and withheld the death sentence on another three suspects.
- MAY 10, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN. HOC APPEALS PRESIDENT ALI ABDULLAH SALEH NOT TO EXECUTE AMINA
Hands off Cain, the international association which has been promoting an international campaign for a global moratorium on capital executions, appealed President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh to spare the Amina’s life. Amina al-Abduladif, a 21-year-old mot
- APRIL 27, 2005MissouriDEATH PENALTY
Donald Jones was executed. Jones, 38, was pronounced dead at 12:07 a.m..
Donald Jones was executed. Jones, 38, was pronounced dead at 12:07 a.m..
- APRIL 22, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. GOVERNMENT REJECTS CLEMENCY FOR MAN ON DEATH ROW
Singapore's president rejected an appeal by the teenage children of Shanmugam Murugesu, a 38-year-old man on death row, saying he would not receive clemency and underlining the country's tough stand on drugs trafficking.
- APRIL 22, 2005FranceDEATH PENALTY
VIRGINIA, USA. 9/11 SUSPECT FACES DEATH PENALTY AFTER PLEADING GUILTY
Zacarias Moussaoui, the man who investigators believed could have unraveled the al-Qaida plot before the September 11 2001 attacks, pleaded guilty to terrorism and other charges carrying the death penalty.