Amnesties, Accountability, and Human Rights
Title | Amnesties, Accountability, and Human Rights PDF eBook |
Author | Renée Jeffery |
Publisher | University of Pennsylvania Press |
Pages | 313 |
Release | 2014-06-13 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 0812209419 |
For the last thirty years, documented human rights violations have been met with an unprecedented rise in demands for accountability. This trend challenges the use of amnesties which typically foreclose opportunities for criminal prosecutions that some argue are crucial to transitional justice. Recent developments have seen amnesties circumvented, overturned, and resisted by lawyers, states, and judiciaries committed to ending impunity for human rights violations. Yet, despite this global movement, the use of amnesties since the 1970s has not declined. Amnesties, Accountability, and Human Rights examines why and how amnesties persist in the face of mounting pressure to prosecute the perpetrators of human rights violations. Drawing on more than 700 amnesties instituted between 1970 and 2005, Renée Jeffery maps out significant trends in the use of amnesty and offers a historical account of how both the use and the perception of amnesty has changed. As mechanisms to facilitate transitions to democracy, to reconcile divided societies, or to end violent conflicts, amnesties have been adapted to suit the competing demands of contemporary postconflict politics and international accountability norms. Through the history of one evolving political instrument, Amnesties, Accountability, and Human Rights sheds light on the changing thought, practice, and goals of human rights discourse generally.
Amnesty in the Age of Human Rights Accountability
Title | Amnesty in the Age of Human Rights Accountability PDF eBook |
Author | Francesca Lessa |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 457 |
Release | 2012-05-28 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 110738009X |
This edited volume brings together well-established and emerging scholars of transitional justice to discuss the persistence of amnesty in the age of human rights accountability. The volume attempts to reframe debates, moving beyond the limited approaches of 'truth versus justice' or 'stability versus accountability' in which many of these issues have been cast in the existing scholarship. The theoretical and empirical contributions in this book offer new ways of understanding and tackling the enduring persistence of amnesty in the age of accountability. In addition to cross-national studies, the volume encompasses eleven country cases of amnesty for past human rights violations: Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Uganda and Uruguay. The volume goes beyond merely describing these case studies, but also considers what we learn from them in terms of overcoming impunity and promoting accountability to contribute to improvements in human rights and democracy.
Amnesty in the Age of Human Rights Accountability
Title | Amnesty in the Age of Human Rights Accountability PDF eBook |
Author | Francesca Lessa |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 457 |
Release | 2012-05-28 |
Genre | Law |
ISBN | 1107025001 |
This edited volume brings together well-established and emerging scholars of transitional justice to discuss the persistence of amnesty in the age of human rights accountability. The volume attempts to reframe debates, moving beyond the limited approaches of 'truth versus justice' or 'stability versus accountability' in which many of these issues have been cast in the existing scholarship. The theoretical and empirical contributions in this book offer new ways of understanding and tackling the enduring persistence of amnesty in the age of accountability. In addition to cross-national studies, the volume encompasses eleven country cases of amnesty for past human rights violations: Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Uganda and Uruguay. The volume goes beyond merely describing these case studies, but also considers what we learn from them in terms of overcoming impunity and promoting accountability to contribute to improvements in human rights and democracy.
Negotiating Peace
Title | Negotiating Peace PDF eBook |
Author | Renée Jeffery |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 313 |
Release | 2021-03-18 |
Genre | Law |
ISBN | 1108838103 |
A study of how and why amnesties for human rights violations remain a prevalent feature of peace processes in Asia.
Amnesty, Serious Crimes and International Law
Title | Amnesty, Serious Crimes and International Law PDF eBook |
Author | Josepha Close |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 293 |
Release | 2019-05-16 |
Genre | Law |
ISBN | 1351180215 |
Amnesty, Serious Crimes and International Law examines the permissibility of amnesties for serious crimes in the contemporary international order. In the last few decades, there has been a growing tendency to consider that amnesties are prohibited in respect of certain grave crimes. However, the question remains controversial as there is no explicit treaty ban and general amnesties continue to be frequently issued in post-conflict and transitional contexts. The first part of the book explores the use of amnesties from antiquity to the present day. It reviews amnesty traditions in ancient societies and provides a global picture of modern amnesties. In parallel, it traces the development of the accountability paradigm underpinning the current prohibitive stance on amnesties. The second part assesses the position of modern international law on amnesties. It comprehensively analyses the main arguments supporting the existence of a general amnesty ban, including the duty to prosecute international crimes, the right to redress of victims of human rights violations, international standards and trends in state practice, and the mandate of international criminal courts. The book argues that, while international legal or policy requirements restrict the freedom of states to extend amnesty in respect of serious crimes, or the effectiveness of amnesty measures in preventing the prosecution of such crimes, these restrictions do not add up to an absolute and universal prohibition.
Necessary Evils
Title | Necessary Evils PDF eBook |
Author | Mark Freeman |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 375 |
Release | 2009-11-30 |
Genre | Law |
ISBN | 1139485601 |
This book is about amnesties for grave international crimes that states adopt in moments of transition or social unrest. The subject is naturally controversial, especially in the age of the International Criminal Court. The goal of this book is to reframe and revitalise the global debate on the subject and to offer an original framework for resolving amnesty dilemmas when they arise. Most literature and jurisprudence on amnesties deal with only a small subset of state practice and sidestep the ambiguity of amnesty's position under international law. This book addresses the ambiguity head on and argues that amnesties of the broadest scope are sometimes defensible when adopted as a last recourse in contexts of mass violence. Drawing on an extensive amnesty database, the book offers detailed guidance on how to ensure that amnesties extend the minimum leniency possible, while imposing the maximum accountability on the beneficiaries.
Amnesty Versus Accountability
Title | Amnesty Versus Accountability PDF eBook |
Author | Angelika Schlunck |
Publisher | |
Pages | 316 |
Release | 2000 |
Genre | Amnesty |
ISBN |