Has the Ability of Truth Commissions to Recommend Amnesty Been Effective in Enhancing Perpetrator Cooperation?

Abstract

This article examines the amnesty powers granted to a variety of truth commissions (TC). It considers whether the process by which TCs are able to recommend for perpetrators who cooperate with TCs (and usually provide truth) has ensured that such individuals come forward and cooperate with these institutions. This is decisive, as TCs everywhere experience difficulties in obtaining perpetrator cooperation and testimony. Crucially, unlike the South African TC, which had the power to directly grant amnesty, later TCs have only been able to recommend, to their governments, that amnesty be granted to specific persons who meet criteria laid out in the specific TC's legal mandate. The article therefore examines the efficacy of TC amnesty