- 期刊
The Politics of International Amnesty Law: Benefits and Follies
並列摘要
In the present international environment politics and law are constantly clashing with each other. When ideologies and agendas diverge, or when certain ethnic or cultural groups perceive that they are oppressed, then there is the high probability of conflicts arising. When conflicts arise between or within nations there is the chance that one or both actors in the conflict may engage and attack their enemy with illegal methods. When the fog of war settles and the scope of any war crimes become clear, there are many ways in which to go about handling any accused parties. One of these methods is known as amnesty. Amnesty is a way of granting immunity or impunity from future legal suit. The use of amnesty to alleviate warlords or dictators from possible prosecution is the subject of much praise and criticism, both in regards to whether or not it is an effective tool of negotiation. Amnesty can also be looked at as a tool for reconciliation, but this too is the subject of much debate. Regardless of how amnesty is used it raises a number of ethical questions. The questions floating around the use and effectiveness of amnesty that are explored here are these: Does amnesty effectively negotiate peace and prevent reoccurrence of whatever actors and conflict was applied to? Does amnesty help a nation reconcile from the damage of an ethically corrupt regime? Should the UN Security Council play a larger role when it comes to amnesty agreements? And why is it so difficult to implement, aside from ethical implications?