Is there a duty to prosecute, or can you trade amnesty for peace? The Bosnian situation

Abstract

"Amnesty" is defined as an act of sovereign power decriminalizing a past offense. This is an Area of Law Comment that asks whether there is a duty to prosecute under international law when there have been horrific crimes committed against humanity. The second issue is which international treaties should be used to determine whether there is a duty to prosecute when there have been human rights violations committed against innocent civilians. The Comment looks more specifically at the situation in Brcko, Bosnia and explores the history of the Serbs as a way of explaining their behavior in the 1990's. The Comment analyzes international law as well as a few international treaties relating to human rights violations to help resolve the above issues. The Comment also uses a couple of different countries as examples of where amnesty has worked for the new government as well as some examples of countries where it has not. The Comment also looks beyond the legal issues and probes the political issues as well. The Comment explores the short-term and the long-term effects of granting amnesty. The Comment also addresses the issue of what could happen by not adhering to the rule of law and granting amnesty in order to achieve peace.