Since Antiquity, the granting of amnesty to past atrocities has played a prominent role in political transitions. However, the moralized discourse of human rights that has emerged after the end of the Second World War has called for prosecutions in such cases. This study shows that granting individual amnesties to those responsible for past atrocities, as opposed to their prosecution, is a critical element in paving the way towards homonoia---harmony or concord---in a community that has been affected by civil strife. After having explored the origins of amnesty in Ancient Athens and its similarities with the amnesties granted by early modern European peace treaties and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the author argues that individual amnesty constitutes the only way of uncovering the truth about past atrocities. This is turn facilitates the forgiving of perpetrators and thus the achievement of homonoia. Moreover, individual amnesty, as mainly a political act, can nevertheless encompass considerations of justice, when the notion is not restricted merely to its punitive aspect.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.83955 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Le Fort, Olivia |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Laws (Faculty of Law.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002272590, proquestno: AAIMR22694, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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