A/HRC/24/18 D. Clemency, pardon or commutation 53. Article 6(4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. Article 4(6) of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights and the Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of those facing the Death Penalty contain a similar provision stating that capital punishment shall not be imposed while such a petition is pending decision by the competent authority. 54. During the period under review, Amnesty International recorded pardons or commutations of death sentences in 27 States.54 In the United States of America, the Governor of Colorado granted an indefinite stay of execution to a death row prisoner. In his Executive Order, the governor expressed concern about the State’s death penalty system, calling it flawed and inequitable.55 The Supreme Court of India commuted the death sentence of an individual to life imprisonment on the grounds that “12 years delay in the disposal of the appellant’s mercy petition was sufficient for commutation of the sentence of death”.56 Fifty-five death sentences were commuted in Guatemala after the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court of Justice reviewed the cases of death penalty prisoners in the country.57 In Zambia, 113 death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by the President.58 E. Prohibition of extradition, expulsion or deportation in the death penalty cases 55. In accordance with the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee, an individual may not be extradited, expelled or deported to a country where there is a “necessary and forcible threat” that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights will be violated.59 56. During the period under review, the issue of the prohibition of extradition, expulsion or deportation of individuals who may face the death penalty to a third country was addressed by international, regional and national mechanisms. For instance, the Human Rights Committee welcomed the actions of the judiciary in Macao, China in blocking the transfer of a person to mainland China. However, it was concerned that, despite its previous recommendation to that effect (CCPR/C/79/Add.115, paragraph 14), Macao, China had not adopted any specific regulation regarding the transfer of offenders from Macao, China to mainland China to protect those persons against the risk of death penalty or ill-treatment upon return (CCPR/C/CHN-MAC/CO/1, paragraph 11). 57. In a judgment, adopted in 25 September 2012, the European Court of Human Rights recalled that Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, taken together with obligations under Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention, prohibits a member State of the Council of Europe from detaining individuals with a view to extraditing them to stand 54 55 56 57 58 59 Amnesty International, op. cit., p. 6. See http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/COexecutiveorder.pdf. Mahendra Nath Das v. Union of India and Others, Criminal Appeal No. NO. 677 OF 2013. Amnesty International, op. cit., p. 7. “Zambia: Sata Pardons 615 inmates”, available at http://www.handsoffcain.info/archivio_news/201305.php?iddocumento=17305542&mover=0. T. v. Australia (No. 706/1996) United Nations Document CCPR/C/61/D/706/1996; see also resolution 2005/59 of the Commission of Human Rights. 13