Department of Development Studies

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Amnesty and Prosecution of International Humanitarian Law Violations in Uganda:
(Journal of Development Studies, 2015) Kabiito, Bendicto
In continued human search for peace and justice, which are pertinent to development, post-war societies are confronted with a dilemma of either letting go of the past through legalized amnesty or embarking on comprehensive prosecution of perpetuators of that violence, in response to the troubled past. What remains important is to know that the path taken in the post-war atmosphere leads to either possibility or impossibility of sustainable peace and development. This was a challenge northern Uganda is facing after two decades of unspeakable suffering. With the contextual, epistemological and experiential perspectives, this study delves into the nexus between granted amnesty in Uganda and the subsequent call for retributive justice. Though disputed, amnesty was opted for in a bid to deliberate on the necessity of compromise in the justice-peace search. Moreover, although it presented with some weaknesses, Uganda’s amnesty gesture was indeed a necessary path to peace. Its necessity and credibility are vividly stamped by various amnesty examples from elsewhere, and sealed by an eventual call for the harmonization instead of polarization of peace and justice efforts.