Amnesties and victims' viewsFor many victims of violence, human rights defenders and many others affected by human rights violations , amnesties represent the lowest of pragmatic accommodations with former despots, murderers, and torturers. At first glance, amnesties do not appear to work in favor of the victim but for the benefit of political leaders, elites and the perpetrators themselves. When societies accept amnesty, victims adopt a position of forgetting past actions of military and political power in favor of the concept of forgiveness. Rights such as truth and justice are sacrificed in the name of political stability. When amnesties deprive victims of their rights to truth, justice and reparations, they can potentially worsen their suffering by masking the impunity granted by a blanket amnesty and denying victims full recognition of their suffering. The choice of transitional governments to remedy past crimes is often part of a false dichotomy: peace versus justice. However, this is not the case. Treating peace and justice as ends of a spectrum involves extreme positions ranging from total forgiveness and forgetting the past through blanket amnesty laws in the name of reconciliation or the pursuit of retributive justice against all perpetrators of human rights violations worldwide. the risk of destabilizing delicate political transitions. This article will argue that amnesties are proactive incentives for peace, justice and truth, and are not simply mutually exclusive. Despite the potentially damaging consequences of amnesty laws for victims and the frequent condemnation of amnesties as a denial of victims' rights, there are examples in countries like Uganda of civil society groups pressuring... ... middle of paper ... ...one, Payam. “Are international criminal tribunals a barrier to peace? : Reconciling judicial romanticism with political realism. Human Rights Quarterly 31 (2009): 624-54. Cronin-Furman, Kate. “Managing Expectations: International Criminal Trials and the Prospects for Deterring Mass Atrocity” in The International Journal of Transitional Justice. Flight. 7, no. 3 (2013): 434-454. Mallinder, Louise. “Can we reconcile amnesties and international justice? The International Journal of Transitional Justice 1.2 (2007): 208-30. McEvoy, Kieran. Journal of Law and Society: Amnesties in transition: punishment, restoration and the governance of mercy. 3. 39. New York: Cardiff University School of Law, 2012. 243. Print. Vinjamuri, Leslie. “Deterrence, democracy and the pursuit of international justice.” In ethics and international affairs 24:2 (2010): 191-211.