The International Legality of Amnesty for Individuals who committed International Crimes
Kim, Young Sok*
The Preamble of the International Criminal Court (ICC) recalls that it is the duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes. However, amnesty has been used as a means of advancing reconciliation in societies and in the 1980s the concept of “truth and reconciliation” began to be popular.
This article explains that general and unconditional amnesties for crimes under international law such as amnesties for Pinochet and his subordinate in Chile are impermissible under customary and conventional international law. However, conditional amnesties such as those granted by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) may be recognized as lawful and contribute to the achievement of peace and justice in a society more effectively than mandatory prosecution.
To be a reliable Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Commission should following requirements, inter alia; the Commission should be a representative and independent body; the Commission should hold public hearings at which victims of human rights abuses are permitted to testify; and Amnesty should be denied to perpetrators of gross human rights abuses who refuses to co-operate with the Commission or who refuse to make a full disclosure of their crimes.
Recently, both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court were established in Sierra Leone. This fact indicates that a TRC and a criminal court may complement one another.