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
- MARCH 13, 1999Sri LankaDEATH PENALTY
On March 13, Sri Lanka said it would start carrying...
On March 13, Sri Lanka said it would start carrying out executions again, after a gap of more than 40 years, to curb rising crime
- FEBRUARY 18, 1999IraqDEATH PENALTY
On February 18, the Revolution Command Council (RCC)...
On February 18, the Revolution Command Council (RCC) issued Decree No
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999IndiaDEATH PENALTY
In February, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence...
In February, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Om Prakash (23), convicted for killing 7 persons with his service self-loading rifle in Haryana in 1990, to a life sentence
- JANUARY 21, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On January 21, Anatoly Pristavkin, a writer and chairman...
On January 21, Anatoly Pristavkin, a writer and chairman of the presidential pardons commission, said it was a struggle to persuade the public of the need to do away with capital punishment
- JANUARY 9, 1999CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
Jaturun Siripongs, a 43-year-old Thai national, practicing...
Jaturun Siripongs, a 43-year-old Thai national, practicing Buddhist, jailhouse artist and model prisoner, was executed at San Quentin on January 9 for a double murder at an Orange County grocery store in 1981
- JANUARY 1, 1999IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for by the Penal Code...
The death penalty is provided for by the Penal Code and by Art
- JANUARY 1, 1999KyrgyzstanDEATH PENALTY
A new Penal Code entered into force in January 1998...
A new Penal Code entered into force in January 1998 and reduced the number of capital crimes, also replacing the death penalty with a maximum of 30 years
- JANUARY 1, 1999AlabamaDEATH PENALTY
In January, outgoing Governor Fob James commuted the...
In January, outgoing Governor Fob James commuted the death sentence of Judith Ann Neelley who as America's longest-serving female death row prisoner had actually been on death row for nearly 16 years
- JANUARY 1, 1999ArkansasDEATH PENALTY
Governor Mike Huckabee commuted the death sentence...
Governor Mike Huckabee commuted the death sentence of Bobby Ray Fretwell to a sentence of life without parole
- JANUARY 1, 1999CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
California does not forbid the execution of the mentally...
California does not forbid the execution of the mentally retarded but does forbid the execution of juvenile offenders
- JANUARY 1, 1999ArkansasDEATH PENALTY
Arkansas forbids the execution of the mentally retarded...
Arkansas forbids the execution of the mentally retarded but does not forbid the execution of juvenile offenders
- JANUARY 1, 1999TexasDEATH PENALTY
After Karla Tucker's early 1998 execution, which focused...
After Karla Tucker's early 1998 execution, which focused worldwide attention on the state's swelling death row population, record-paced executions and the unanimous rejection of clemency requests, the Board of Pardons and Paroles has slightly revised the