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, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Over 82,000 people have been granted amnesty
Including nearly 23,000 protesters
MARCH 2, 2023IdahoDEATH PENALTYUSA - Idaho. Pizzuto's Execution Rescheduled for 2nd Time
As State Scrambles to Find Lethal Injection Drugs
MARCH 1, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: COURT AWARDS DEATH PENALTY TO 7 IN 2017 BHOPAL-UJJAIN TRAIN BLAST CASE
National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court on 28 February 2023 gave death sentences verdict to seven out of eight convicts in the 2017 Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast case.
FEBRUARY 22, 2023MarylandDEATH PENALTYUSA - Maryland. John Huffington, Former Death Row Prisoner, Exonerated After 40 Years
FEBRUARY 1, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: CALCUTTA HIGH COURT COMMUTES THE DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR TWO
The Calcutta High Court on 31 January 2023 commuted the death sentence of two persons, convicted of abduction, rape, and murder of a minor girl at Balagarh in West Bengal's Hooghly district to imprisonment for life without remission till the end of their
- JANUARY 25, 2023KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: 43% OF PRISONERS ON DEATH ROW DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING DURING TRIAL - REPORT
Fourty-three per cent of inmates on death row did not understand what was happening during their trial. This is according to a report launched on 24 January 2023 by the Death Penalty Project, in partnership with Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
JANUARY 18, 2023MoroccoDEATH PENALTYMOROCCO: KING MOHAMMED VI GRANTS PARDON TO 991 CONVICTS FOR INDEPENDENCE MANIFESTO DAY
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has granted a royal pardon to 991 convicts on the occasion of the country’s Independence Manifesto Day, the Justice Ministry announced.
JANUARY 17, 2023CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California is doing away with death row, relocating inmates
JANUARY 10, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: GOVERNOR OF ONDO STATE AKEREDOLU COMMUTES 7 DEATH SENTENCES TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state on 31 December 2022 invoked his Constitutional power of Prerogative of Mercy to free seven inmates of the Correctional Center serving various terms of imprisonment, just as he commuted seven death sentences to
JANUARY 4, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: ZAMFARA STATE GOVERNOR MATAWALLE PARDONS 9 PRISONERS AWAITING DEATH SENTENCE
Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle has pardoned 46 prisoners, nine of whom had been sentenced to death by hanging, and five others that were serving life imprisonment in a Medium Correctional Centre, Gusau
JANUARY 3, 2023DEATH PENALTYUSA - Missouri. Amber McLaughlin executed on January 3
First known US execution of an openly transgender person
JANUARY 2, 2023DEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmed Bachagchi and Azizbeg Hosseini executed in Karaj on January 2
- DECEMBER 19, 2022AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN OFFICIAL PARDONS HIS FATHER'S MURDERER
A senior Afghan official has pardoned a man sentenced to death for murdering the politician's father, a court said on 18 December 2022, days after Taliban authorities carried out the first public execution since the Islamists seized power.
- DECEMBER 18, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: KANO CLERIC SHEIKH KABARA SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY
An Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abduljabbar Kabara, was on 15 December 2022 sentenced to death by hanging by an Upper Shari’a Court sitting at Kofar Kudu in Kano State for alleged blasphemy.
- DECEMBER 16, 2022United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA DPIC 2022 Year End Report
22 death sentences and 18 executions in 2022
DECEMBER 13, 2022OregonDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oregon. Gov. Kate Brown commuted the sentences of all 17 people on death row
NOVEMBER 10, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY OF RAPE, MURDER CONVICT WHO SPENT 10-YRS SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN JAIL
The Supreme Court of India on 4 November 2022 commuted the death sentence awarded to a man for the rape and murder of a widow in 1998, noting he was in solitary confinement in jail for about 10 years.
OCTOBER 13, 2022PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: PRESIDENT REJECTS MERCY APPEAL OF DEATH ROW CONVICT
Pakistan’s President Dr Arif Alvi on 13 October 2022 rejected the mercy appeal of a person convicted in murder and bank robbery case.
OCTOBER 11, 2022TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: TAMCODE RECOMMENDS ABOLITION OF MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY
The Tanzania Media for Community Development (TAMCODE) has recommended amendment of the Penal Code to give judges the discretion to hand over life imprisonment sentences instead of the death penalty in capital offences.
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2022VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: DEATH ROW INMATE DANG VAN HIEN GETS REDUCED SENTENCE
Vietnamese President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has commuted the death sentence of Dang Van Hien and reduced it to life in prison, Hien’s wife, Mai Thi Khuyen, told RFA on 15 September 2022.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SHC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE TERM
The Sindh High Court (SHC), while partially rejecting the appeal of three murder convicts on 14 September 2022, commuted their death sentence into life-imprisonment.
AUGUST 25, 2022OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. James Coddington, now 50, White, was executed
10th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA
- AUGUST 23, 2022IdahoDEATH PENALTY
USA - Idaho. Supreme Court overturns Pizzuto's clemency
JUNE 14, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: GOV. FINTIRI PARDONS SIX CONVICTS; COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa has pardoned six convicts and commuted the death sentence of a condemned inmate to life imprisonment, as part of activities to mark the 2022 Democracy Day.
JUNE 14, 2022EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: 7 PAKISTANIS SENTENCED TO DEATH COMMUTED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
The death sentence of seven Pakistanis imprisoned in Egypt has been commuted to life imprisonment, Pipa news reported on 9 June 2022.
- MAY 25, 2022TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Steven Butler resentenced to life
On claims of intellectual disability
- MAY 5, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY TO 20-YEAR JAIL IN MINOR’S RAPE-MURDER CASE
The Supreme Court on 19 April 2022 commuted the death sentence of a man, who had sexually assaulted and killed a four-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh in April 2013, to 20-year imprisonment.
MAY 5, 2022ArizonaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Arizona. Gov. Doug Ducey says his pro-life stance applies to abortions, not the death penalty
APRIL 26, 2022United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Joe Biden grants clemency to 78 people
But no federal death row inmates
APRIL 14, 2022TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. 19 out of 31 Senators call to stop Melissa Lucio's execution