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 1, 2004TexasDEATH PENALTY
Gov. Rick Perry stopped the execution of Frances Newton
Gov. Rick Perry stopped the execution of Frances Newton
- NOVEMBER 25, 2004UzbekistanDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International urged Uzbek authorities to show mercy to a man sentenced to death
Amnesty International urged Uzbek authorities to show mercy to a man sentenced to death
- NOVEMBER 20, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Reza Khan, an Afghan man accused of killing four journalists in 2001...
Reza Khan, an Afghan man accused of killing four journalists in 2001, was found guilty and sentenced to death after saying his gang was acting on the orders of a top Taliban commander.
- NOVEMBER 15, 2004MoroccoDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that King Mohammed VI of Morocco pardoned...
It was reported that King Mohammed VI of Morocco pardoned more than 1,100 prisoners and detainees on the occasion of the Aid El Fitr holiday marking the end of the Ramadan (fasting) month
- NOVEMBER 7, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Australian government said it would seek clemency...
The Australian government said it would seek clemency for Tran Van Thanh, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin who was facing the firing squad in Vietnam on drug charges
- NOVEMBER 7, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Australian government said it would seek clemency...
The Australian government said it would seek clemency for Tran Van Thanh, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin who was facing the firing squad in Vietnam on drug charges
- OCTOBER 21, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International and the Australian government...
Amnesty International and the Australian government urged Singapore to spare the life of Nguyen Tuong Van, an Australian man sentenced to hang for heroin trafficking
- OCTOBER 21, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International and the Australian government...
Amnesty International and the Australian government urged Singapore to spare the life of Nguyen Tuong Van, an Australian man sentenced to hang for heroin trafficking
- OCTOBER 20, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
A Singapore court upheld the death sentence for a 24-year-old...
A Singapore court upheld the death sentence for a 24-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin found guilty of smuggling 400 grams (14 ounces) of heroin while in transit at the island's main airport
- OCTOBER 20, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
A Singapore court upheld the death sentence for a 24-year-old...
A Singapore court upheld the death sentence for a 24-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin found guilty of smuggling 400 grams (14 ounces) of heroin while in transit at the island's main airport
- OCTOBER 8, 2004Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The Court of Cassation in Saudi Arabia dropped the...
The Court of Cassation in Saudi Arabia dropped the death sentence for three men accused of taking part in a series of armed robberies targeting a number of local Saudi banks and replaced it with imprisonment, but upheld the death sentence for a fourth sus
- OCTOBER 3, 2004Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
Kenrick London and his wife Chandroutie, who were convicted...
Kenrick London and his wife Chandroutie, who were convicted of the murder of Chandroutie's sister Meena Sookoo, in Trinidad and Tobago, had their sentences of death by hanging commuted to life imprisonment by the Court of Appeal
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2004Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
Even though the Privy Council ruled almost three months...
Even though the Privy Council ruled almost three months ago that the death sentences of 86 convicted killers be commuted to life imprisonment, the order has not yet been carried out
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that as many as 71 convicts were on...
It was reported that as many as 71 convicts were on death row in different jails in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where no one had been hanged to in the past 15 years
- AUGUST 29, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The high court, Indore bench, India, converted the...
The high court, Indore bench, India, converted the death sentence awarded to Ganesh of Gauri Nagar into life imprisonment
- AUGUST 5, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The father of death-row convict Dhananjoy Chatterjee...
The father of death-row convict Dhananjoy Chatterjee criticised President A
- AUGUST 4, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Indian President Abdul Kalam rejected a mercy plea...
Indian President Abdul Kalam rejected a mercy plea for Dhananjoy Chatterjee, a man convicted of raping and killing a teenage girl, paving the way for India's first execution in 15 years
- AUGUST 4, 2004Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
eight men who successfully appealed against death sentences
eight men who successfully appealed against death sentences
- JULY 8, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri rejected...
Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri rejected appeals for clemency made by seven drug traffickers who had been sentenced to death
- JULY 8, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri rejected...
Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri rejected appeals for clemency made by seven drug traffickers who had been sentenced to death
- JUNE 28, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said she...
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said she would not pardon any convicted drug traffickers on death row
- JUNE 27, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
"The death sentence awarded to the accused in the case...
"The death sentence awarded to the accused in the case of rape and murder of the 14-year-old Hetal Parekh in Kolkata in 1990 has understandably raised a controversy
- JUNE 24, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Indian authorities stayed the hanging of Dhananjoy...
Indian authorities stayed the hanging of Dhananjoy Chatterjee in what would have been India's first execution in 15 years
- MAY 24, 2004MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
The Federal Court of Malaysia commuted the death sentence...
The Federal Court of Malaysia commuted the death sentence imposed on K
- MAY 18, 2004TexasDEATH PENALTY
Kelsey Patterson, 50, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic,...
Kelsey Patterson, 50, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, was executed this evening as Gov
- MAY 15, 2004Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
Myanmar's junta dropped death sentences against nine...
Myanmar's junta dropped death sentences against nine men accused of high treason, including a journalist and three men charged over contacts with the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
- MAY 14, 2004MexicoDEATH PENALTY
Mexican President Vicente Fox welcomed the decision...
Mexican President Vicente Fox welcomed the decision by the governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry commuting the death sentence of Mexican citizen Osvaldo Torres who had been scheduled to die next on May 18 for the murders of a man and woman during a burglary
- MAY 14, 2004OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
Mexican President Vicente Fox welcomed the decision...
Mexican President Vicente Fox welcomed the decision by the governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry commuting the death sentence of Mexican citizen Osvaldo Torres who had been scheduled to die next on May 18 for the murders of a man and woman during a burglary
- MAY 13, 2004OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
Gov. Brad Henry commuted the death sentence of Osbaldo...
Gov. Brad Henry commuted the death sentence of Osbaldo Torres to life without parole. Henry's decision came shortly after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals voted 3-2 to give Osbaldo Torres' an indefinite stay of execution and grant his request for a
- MAY 7, 2004OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
In McAlester, the state Pardon and Parole Board voted...
In McAlester, the state Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for death-row inmate Osbaldo Torres, 29