The Issue of Amnesties
Team: Jesica Santos, Radosh Piletich, Monica Paz, Bonnie Nezaj, Kellie McDaniel, Micheal Hill
Supervisor: Mark Johnson
Semester: Spring 2007
The Mozambique Case for Amnesty Human Rights Watch - International Justice
In countries emerging from conflict and groping with issues surrounding of justice, thereis often a struggle between pursuing war crimes prosecutions and granting amnesties. Perpetrators of war crimes and potential defendants often request, as a condition for a ceasefire or peace agreement, amnesty from prosecution. Victims and the broader community often support amnesties in the interest of immediate peace.
Human Rights Watch's position on this issue is that amnesty in these situationsgenerally does not work, and hinders longer-term peace prospects. In Sierra Leone, Uganda and South Africa, the granting of amnesties (or the failure to follow through on prosecutions), created subsequent problems, and left the issue of justice incompleteand unfulfilled leading to tensions in the local communities.
However, there may exist a positive example where amnesty has worked: Mozambique. Proponents of amnesty often cite Mozambique as a situation where amnesty worked. HRW would like a thorough study of the Mozambique example that would includebackground on the conflict, the amnesties that were offered and how those worked out in practice, to determine if in fact Mozambique is an example where amnesty fostered long term stability. If this is not the case, HRW would like to know the problems and complications created by amnesties, and where these issues stand now.
Human Rights Watch is compiling a comprehensive paper on this issue, of which the Mozambique case study would be one component.
Core Documents
Terms of Reference
Timeline
Final Presentation
Additional Documents
2007 Spring - Human Rights Watch - The Issue of Amnesties.pdf
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