Examining the Use of Amnesties and Pardons as a Response to Internal Armed Conflict

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew G Reiter
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Internal Armed Conflict ◽  
The Past ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Lasting Peace ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

The use of amnesty for human rights violations has been heavily criticised on legal, ethical and political grounds. Yet amnesties have been the most popular transitional justice mechanisms over the past four decades, particularly in the context of internal armed conflict. States justify these amnesties by claiming they are important tools to secure peace. But how successful is amnesty in accomplishing these goals? This article seeks to answer this question by analysing the use and effectiveness of 236 amnesties used in internal armed conflicts worldwide since 1970. The article first creates a typology of the use of amnesty in the context of internal armed conflict. It then qualitatively examines the impact on peace of each type of amnesty. The article finds that most amnesties granted in the context of internal armed conflict have no demonstrable impact on peace and security. Yet amnesties granted as carrots to entice the surrender of armed actors occasionally succeed in bringing about the demobilisation of individual combatants or even entire armed groups. More importantly, amnesties extended as part of a peace process are effective in initiating negotiations, securing agreements, and building the foundation for long-lasting peace.

Floods and armed conflict

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Ghimire ◽  
Susana Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Internal Armed Conflict ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Large Floods ◽  
Global Data

AbstractWe estimate the impact of large, catastrophic floods on internal armed conflict using global data on large floods between 1985 and 2009. The results suggest that while large floods did not ignite new conflict, they fueled existing armed conflicts. Floods and armed conflict are endogenously determined, and we show that empirically addressing this endogeneity is important. The estimated effects of floods on conflict prevalence are substantially larger in specifications that control for the endogeneity of floods, suggesting that treating natural disasters as exogenous phenomena may underestimate their impacts on sociopolitical outcomes.

Part IV The Right to Reparation/Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, B Guarantees of Non-Recurrence of Violations, Principle 37 Disbandment of Parastatal Armed Forces/Demobilization and Social Reintegration of Children

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duthie Roger ◽  
Mayer-Rieckh Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Social Reintegration ◽  
Criminal Violence ◽  
The Right

Principle 37 focuses on the disbandment of parastatal armed forces and the demobilization and social reintegration of children involved in armed conflicts. It articulates measures designed to prevent the transformation of conflict violence to criminal violence through the dismantling and reintegration of all armed groups engaged in abuses, and outlines comprehensive responses to the injustices experienced by children during armed conflict. This chapter first provides a contextual and historical background on Principle 37 before discussing its theoretical framework and practice. It then examines the importance of reintegration processes and how they can be affected by transitional justice measures, along with their implications for former child combatants. It also highlights the relevance of measures for dealing with unofficial armed groups from an impunity standpoint, as well as the efforts of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs to address them.

scholarly journals TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE: THE REINTEGRATION OF CHILD SOLDIERS THROUGH POST-CONFLICT METHODS OF JUSTICE

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 474
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Barbosa-Fohrmann
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Child Soldiers ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Made In

<p>This paper examines the problematic of child soldiers, based on inter alia the strategy of research <br />and study of the United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for <br />Children and Armed Conflict and on the priorities of the Machel Study. Here, national and international <br />law will be applied on countries where children are recruited by armed groups. Concerning domestic <br />jurisdiction alternative or traditional methods of justice as well as formal legal methods will be <br />addressed. Specifically, this paper will focus on three main subjects: 1) the possibility of prosecution <br />and judgment of adolescents, who participated in armed conflicts; 2) prosecution and judgment of war lords <br />and 3) civil reparation proportional to the damage caused by an armed conflict. These three subjects will <br />be construed according to (traditional or alternative and formal) national and international law. Finally, <br />some recommendations will be made in order to improve the system of reintegration of child soldiers in <br />post-conflict countries.</p>

scholarly journals Business Actors, Paramilitaries and Transitional Criminal Justice in Colombia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Wesche
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

Abstract∞ In internal armed conflicts, business actors often play an important role. Yet, their criminal responsibility is rarely addressed in transitional justice (TJ). This article presents a case study of the Colombian transition process with respect to the paramilitaries, which has resulted in hundreds of criminal investigations against business actors in the ordinary justice system. Nonetheless, the large majority continues in impunity. Based on qualitative interviews with public prosecutors, the article analyzes the main obstacles to holding them accountable, arguing that TJ processes should give more emphasis to the private-sector supporters of armed groups so as to prevent the recurrence of violence.

scholarly journals The impact of armed conflict on economic performance and enterprise value in the country

2020 ◽  
Vol 182 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Yury Frolov ◽  
◽  
Timur Bosenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Social Indicators ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
The Past ◽  
Difficult Time ◽  
The Impact

The intensity of armed conflicts has peaked in the past 30 years over the past two centuries. The problems of war emergence affect not only social indicators, but also economic and legal aspects of existence of enterprises within the framework of unstable situation in the country. Even in such a difficult time, enterprises at various levels are trying to develop despite the falling economic and social indicators of the local economy. Over time, in places where local armed conflicts have turned into frozen ones (e.g. Transnistria, Gaza Strip, Syria), enterprises have learned to exist in unstable conditions, forming new strategies and reactions to events. Before the World War II, researchers did not question that there was a connection between the decline in the economic performance of enterprises and the conduct of war or armed conflict in a country. However, the number of studies on this issue is small, which makes this paper relevant in the process of studying the issue. The analysis of experience of functioning of business in conditions of war can be useful for thec enterprises of various industries. The purpose of the paper consists in research of influence of local armed conflicts on cost of the enterprises in the country.

Sharing the Wealth

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 547-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helga Malmin Binningsbø ◽  
Siri Aas Rustad
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Resource Conflicts ◽  
Lasting Peace ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

This article critically examines the notion that wealth sharing in the aftermath of internal armed conflicts can bring about long-lasting peace. While wealth sharing is increasingly considered a crucial element of peacebuilding, the evidence concerning its success is inconclusive. Previous studies unfortunately suffer from weak theoretical and empirical definitions of wealth sharing and from examining only a subset of postconflict societies. This article improves the research by disaggregating the concept of wealth sharing to concrete policy relevant natural resource management tools and by introducing new and better data on wealth sharing and including more postconflict peace periods than previous studies. This article examines the relationships between armed conflict, wealth sharing and peace by studying two independent but interlinked research questions: In which postconflict societies is wealth sharing most likely to be adopted? And can wealth sharing bring stable peace in postconflict societies? The analyses show that wealth sharing is more likely to be implemented after natural resource conflicts. Nonetheless, the article does not find that wealth sharing is successful in bringing postconflict peace after these conflicts. Reasons for this can be that (1) other factors than wealth sharing explain the outcome better, and (2) the wealth sharing policies are poorly designed and implemented. The article concludes that wealth sharing can only be a suitable path for societies recovering from armed conflict if such policies are carefully designed to fit the specific context and take into account the challenges that will arrive.

How counterterrorism throws back wartime medical assistance and care to pre-Solferino times

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Medical Assistance ◽  
Simultaneous Application ◽  
Medical Mission ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Domestic counterterrorism (CT) frameworks have been increasingly employed to criminalize impartial medical care to wounded and sick from non-State armed groups labelled as criminal or terrorist in non-international armed conflicts (NIACs). It has also contributed to legitimize attacks and incidental damage on medical facilities in armed conflicts overlooking the international humanitarian law (IHL) protection afforded to the wounded and sick as well as to medical personnel and facilities. This article compares the treatment of the wounded and sick in both international armed conflicts (IACs) and NIACs in the context of the global war on terrorism. It demonstrates the impacts that CT measures have on the IHL protection of the medical mission while demonstrating the increased acceptance that some incidental damages, such as the downgrading of IHL core protections, are tolerated, by some countries in the global fight against terrorism. The article further illustrates how the special criminal status of wounded and sick from non-State armed groups in armed conflicts that are evolving in a CT context can mechanically contaminate the status of impartial humanitarian medical activities, facilities and personnel in such contexts. It also shows how the simultaneous application of CT and IHL in numerous contexts of armed conflict as well as the involvement of State armed forces under those two different bodies of law contributes to blurring the lines between IHL and CT, between protected or “criminal” humanitarian and medical activities. In contexts of complex military operations, this reality creates a mind-set conducive to legal mistakes and security incidents on the medical mission. Although there is a distinction between the protection from attacks and the protection from prosecution under IHL, in practice, numerous military operations to arrest are launched in ways similar to attacks and can end up with some killings. The article concludes that States could easily limit the impact of CT on IHL by adding an exemption in their CT framework for humanitarian and medical assistance that is compatible with IHL. This is the first necessary condition – even if obviously not a sufficient one – to end the legal ambiguity between IHL and State domestic law as to the criminalization or loss of the IHL protected status for the much necessary needed medical assistance and care activities in times of armed conflict that are evolving in a CT context.

scholarly journals Strategies and Tactics in Armed Conflict: How Governments and Foreign Interveners Respond to Insurgent Threats

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 2207-2232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Lynne Sullivan ◽  
Johannes Karreth
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Civilian Protection ◽  
Forced Resettlement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Employment Choices ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Internal Armed Conflicts

We introduce a new data set on the strategies and tactics employed by belligerents in 197 internal armed conflicts that occurred between 1945 and 2013. The Strategies and Tactics in Armed Conflict (STAC) data set provides scholars with a rich new source of information to facilitate investigations of how regimes and their foreign supporters have responded to insurgent threats and the effects of actors’ force employment choices on a wide variety of intra- and postconflict outcomes. In addition to seventeen novel variables that measure the strategies and tactics employed by governments and intervening states, the STAC data set contains independently coded measures of many variables that overlap with existing data sets—a feature that facilitates the replication of existing studies and robustness checks on the results of new studies. We demonstrate the utility of the STAC data with an analysis of the impact of rebel mobilization on the basis of ethnicity on the propensity of governments to employ forced resettlement, civilian protection, civilian welfare projects, and civilian targeting to counter the insurgent threat.

Современный образ войны и проблема ее трасформации

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
D. A. Abgadzhava ◽  
A. S. Vlaskina
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Conflict ◽  
The Past ◽  
Advanced Technologies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Boundaries ◽  
Modern War

War is an essential part of the social reality inherent in all stages of human development: from the primitive communal system to the present, where advanced technologies and social progress prevail. However, these characteristics do not make our society more peaceful, on the contrary, according to recent research and reality, now the number of wars and armed conflicts have increased, and most of the conflicts have a pronounced local intra-state character. Thus, wars in the classical sense of them go back to the past, giving way to military and armed conflicts. Now the number of soldiers and the big army doesn’t show the opponents strength. What is more important is the fact that people can use technology, the ideological and informational base to win the war. According to the history, «weak» opponent can be more successful in conflict if he has greater cohesion and ideological unity. Modern wars have already transcended the political boundaries of states, under the pressure of certain trends, they are transformed into transnational wars, that based on privatization, commercialization and obtaining revenue. Thus, the present paper will show a difference in understanding of terms such as «war», «military conflict» and «armed conflict». And also the auteurs will tell about the image of modern war and forecasts for its future transformation.

The Formation of a Customary International Crime: Global Terrorism Human (In) Security

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 665-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noemi Gal-Or
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Crime ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
The Past ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Global Terrorism ◽  
Definition Of

The article studies the concept of human security (hs) as embraced by the un General Assembly and Secretary Generals, and its instrumentality in the promotion of a customary international crime of global terrorism. Such a crime exists in the opinion of the Appellate Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Regarding terrorism in international criminal law (icl), not in armed conflict, I maintain that the concept of hs has been pivotal in furthering the “criminalisation” of terrorism in matters peace and security. I submit that (i) that the absence of a universally agreed upon definition of (global) terrorism does not suffice to detract from the finding that such a transnational crime exists, and (ii) in addition to the various and largely agreed constitutive elements of customary law, normative paradigmatic developments – here in the case of terrorism, and in the past two decades – have significantly supported this customarisation trend.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document