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
- JANUARY 1, 2004AlabamaDEATH PENALTY
Alabama does allow the execution of juvenile offenders...
Alabama does allow the execution of juvenile offenders from 16 years onwards but does have life without parole
- DECEMBER 18, 2003ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
Zambia's Supreme Court confirmed death sentences for...
Zambia's Supreme Court confirmed death sentences for 44 soldiers for their role in a failed 1997 military coup, but acquitted 10 others, citing a lack of evidence
- DECEMBER 10, 2003LebanonDEATH PENALTY
Lebanon's pardoning commission refused to commute the...
Lebanon's pardoning commission refused to commute the death penalty for 31 convicts, who risk being hanged if President Emile Lahoud does not excuse them
- DECEMBER 8, 2003KentuckyDEATH PENALTY
On his final day in office, Gov
On his final day in office, Gov
- NOVEMBER 19, 2003CambodiaDEATH PENALTY
The Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong commuted the...
The Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment for two Cambodian nationals, according to official sources
- NOVEMBER 19, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong commuted the...
The Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment for two Cambodian nationals, according to official sources
- NOVEMBER 18, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Allahabad High Court, India, commuted nine out...
The Allahabad High Court, India, commuted nine out of thirteen death sentences and acquitted the four remaining convicts of their death sentences
- NOVEMBER 13, 2003PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The Philippine Supreme Court commuted the death sentence...
The Philippine Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Hideshi Suzuki, a 47-year-old Japanese man convicted of drug trafficking, to life imprisonment
- NOVEMBER 13, 2003JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Philippine Supreme Court commuted the death sentence...
The Philippine Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Hideshi Suzuki, a 47-year-old Japanese man convicted of drug trafficking, to life imprisonment
- NOVEMBER 11, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Allahabad high court, India, commuted six death...
The Allahabad high court, India, commuted six death sentences, in four separate cases
- NOVEMBER 3, 2003LouisianaDEATH PENALTY
9th Judicial District Judge W
9th Judicial District Judge W
- OCTOBER 30, 2003IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra...
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri had commuted the death sentence of convicted murderer Harnoko Dewantoro, alias Oki, to life imprisonment
- OCTOBER 28, 2003IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Since independence in 1945, Indonesian courts had sentenced...
Since independence in 1945, Indonesian courts had sentenced a total of 70 people to death with 11 of them already executed, an Attorny General's Office (AGO) spokesman said
- OCTOBER 28, 2003KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
The Kuwaiti Court of Appeals court commuted to life...
The Kuwaiti Court of Appeals court commuted to life in prison the death sentence against Sami al-Mutairi, a 25 year old Kuwaiti who killed an American civilian and wounded another in a highway ambush in January 2003
- OCTOBER 24, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Two drug traffickers on death-row in Vietnam had their...
Two drug traffickers on death-row in Vietnam had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by President Tran Duc Luong, state media said
- OCTOBER 2, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Amanullah alias Shahbaz had his death sentence for...
Amanullah alias Shahbaz had his death sentence for murder reduced to ten years rigorous imprisonment by a division bench of the Sindh High Court in Pakistan
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2003IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
Ryan's clemencies challenged----32 cases were ineligible,...
Ryan's clemencies challenged----32 cases were ineligible, Supreme Court told Months after former Gov
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Lien Khui Thin and Nguyen Tuan Phuc, respectively former...
Lien Khui Thin and Nguyen Tuan Phuc, respectively former director and chairman of executive board of Epco company, had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, court officials said
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2003JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Sapporo High Court in Japan overturned the death...
The Sapporo High Court in Japan overturned the death sentence given to Kazuyuki Oikawa, 26, for the murder of two children and the attempted murder of another on 8 August 2001, sentencing him to life in prison
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
An appeal court in Vietnam commuted the death sentence...
An appeal court in Vietnam commuted the death sentence handed down on Nguyen Ton Van, a local businessman found guilty of fraud, to life-imprisonment, state media said
- AUGUST 19, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian Islamic appeal court quashed the conviction...
A Nigerian Islamic appeal court quashed the conviction of Had Sarimu Mohammed, a 55-year-old peasant farmer who had been sentenced to be stoned to death for the rape of a nine-year-old girl
- AUGUST 17, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Jail authorities in the eastern Indian state of Orissa...
Jail authorities in the eastern Indian state of Orissa suspended their search for a hangman after the death sentence of Dayanidhi Bishnoi, 35, was commuted to life imprisonment
- AUGUST 8, 2003CanadaDEATH PENALTY
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of...
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of carrying out a wave of bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001 were freed by the Gulf state
- AUGUST 8, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of...
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of carrying out a wave of bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001 were freed by the Gulf state
- AUGUST 8, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of...
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of carrying out a wave of bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001 were freed by the Gulf state
- AUGUST 7, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India's Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of...
India's Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Ram Pal, a man convicted of murdering 21 people including women and children, to life imprisonment as the murders he committed 17 years ago appeared to have been an act of extreme provocation
- AUGUST 7, 2003IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
The families of British Bali bombing victims will ask...
The families of British Bali bombing victims will ask for Amrozi bin Nurhasyim's death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment amid fears execution will turn him into a martyr
- AUGUST 7, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
The families of British Bali bombing victims will ask...
The families of British Bali bombing victims will ask for Amrozi bin Nurhasyim's death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment amid fears execution will turn him into a martyr
- AUGUST 1, 2003BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
"The execution of a convicted murderer last month has...
"The execution of a convicted murderer last month has re-opened the controversy over the administration of the death penalty in Botswana," said an All Africa editorial
- AUGUST 1, 2003ArmeniaDEATH PENALTY
Armenian President Robert Kocharian pardoned all inmates...
Armenian President Robert Kocharian pardoned all inmates who were sentenced to death by shooting under the old Criminal Code, the presidential press service said