Amnesty for Kurdish Genocide Perpetrators in the Perspective National and International Law

Awara Hussein Ahmed

Abstract


The concept of amnesty has long been a subject of debate, especially when it concerns those responsible for heinous crimes such as genocide. This study aims to analyze the legal implications of the 1991 general amnesty issued by the Kurdistan Council, focusing on its impact on victims' rights and transitional justice from both national and international legal perspectives. Employing a legal analysis method, the research examines laws, court decisions, conventions, and relevant statutes, as well as academic studies and legal documents. The findings reveal that, based on legal principles at both domestic and international levels, perpetrators of international crimes in general, and genocide in particular, cannot escape legal accountability. Amnesty is inconsistent with the principles of equality and the protection of all individuals before the law. However, if amnesty must be chosen as a last resort and is entirely unavoidable, this legal flaw can be rectified by prosecuting the perpetrators in court.


Keywords


Amnesty, Kurdish Genocide, National law, International law, Transitional justice

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ahmed, Awara H., dan Zana R. Saeed. “Basis and Advantages Performing Principle of Complementarity by the International Criminal Court.” Halabja University Journal 6, no. 1 (20 Maret 2021): 177–96. https://doi.org/10.32410/huj-10368.

———. “The Relation between International Criminal Court and United Nations: International Court of Justice and Security Council.” Halabja University Journal 5, no. 4 (30 Desember 2020): 199–212. https://doi.org/10.32410/huj-10349.

Ahmed, Awara Hussein. “The Yazidi Genocide in the Court of Frankfurt an Analytical Legal Study on The Case of Taha Al-Jumaili.” As-Siyasi: Journal of Constitutional Law 3, no. 1 (25 Juni 2023): 45–63. https://doi.org/10.24042/as-siyasi.v3i1.16724.

Akhavan, Payam, Sareta Ashraph, Barzan Barzani, dan David Matyas. “What Justice for the Yazidi Genocide?: Voices from Below.” Human Rights Quarterly 42, no. 1 (2020): 1–47. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2020.0000.

Awara Hussein. Kurdish Genocide in the perspective of international criminal law. Baghdad: Hamdi press, 2017.

———. The victimization of victims and the question of transitional justice in Kurdistan. Kurdistan times, 2023.

Bezwan, Naif. “The State and Violence in Kurdistan: A Conceptual Framework.” Kurdish Studies 9, no. 1 (2021): 11–36.

Black, G. “Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds (Human Rights Watch Report, 1993),” t.t. https://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/ANFALINT.htm.

Chnar Namiq. Anfal and the Kurdish Genocide, first edition. Kirkuk: Karo Press, 2013.

Convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against Humanity, 1968 (t.t.).

Extraordinary chambers in the courts of Cambodia (hereafter ECCC), trial chamber, case file/dossier no. 002/19-09-2007/ECCC/TC, decision on Ieng Sary’s rule 89 preliminary objections (Ne Bis In Idem and Amnesty and Pardon), accused (Noun Chea, Leng Sary, Leng Thirith, Khieu Samphan), on November 3, 2011.Conventions, Constitutions, Statutes and laws (t.t.).

Fischer-Tahir, Andrea. “Searching for sense: the concept of genocide as part of knowledge production in iraqi kurdistan.” Dalam Writing the Modern History of Iraq, 227–43. WORLD SCIENTIFIC, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814390576_0015.

Harrington, M. E. “Operation Provide Comfort: A Perspective in International Law.” Connecticut Journal of International Law 8, no. 2 (1992): 635.

I, Sadiq. Origins of the Kurdish Genocide: Nation Building and Genocide as a Civilizing and De-Civilizing Process. Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793636843/Origins-of-the-Kurdish-Genocide-Nation-Building-and-Genocide-as-a-Civilizing-and-De-Civilizing-Process.

Iraqi amnesty Law no. (19), 2008 (t.t.).

Iraqi Constitution, 2005 (t.t.).

Kelly, Michael J. Ghosts of Halabja: Saddam Hussein and the Kurdish Genocide. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2008. http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0822/2008028215.html.

———. “The Anfal trial against Saddam Hussein.” Journal of Genocide Research 9, no. 2 (1 Juni 2007): 235–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520701368628.

———. “The Tricky Nature of Proving Genocide Against Saddam Hussein Before the Iraqi Special Tribunal.” SSRN Scholarly Paper. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network, 3 Agustus 2006. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=920858.

Kirmanj, Sherko, dan Aram Rafaat. “The Kurdish genocide in Iraq: the Security-Anfal and the Identity-Anfal.” National Identities 23, no. 2 (15 Maret 2021): 163–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2020.1746250.

Knowles, C. S. “Life and human dignity, the birthright of all human beings: An analysis of the Iraqi genocide of the Kurds and effective enforcement of human rights.” Naval L. Rev, 1998.

Leurs, Rob. “Reliving genocide: the work of Kurdish genocide victims in the Court of Justice.” Critical Arts 25, no. 2 (1 Juni 2011): 296–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2011.569081.

Mansour, Renad. “Rethinking Recognition: The Case of Iraqi Kurdistan,” 1 Januari 2014. https://doi.org/10.7574/cjicl.03.04.245.

Marif Omar Gul. Genocide of the Kurdish people in the light of international law. Yarmouth: Aras press, 2007.

Patler, N. “Terror was his means to our end: US-Western support of Saddam Hussein’s Genocide of the Kurds,” 306–19, t.t.

Rome Statute of The International Crimininal Court (RSICC) 1998 (t.t.).

Sarah Williams,. “hybrid and internationalized criminal tribunals: jurisdictional issues.” PhD Thesis, Durham University, 2009.

“Sierra Leone TRC - Witness to Truth - Volume Three B (Chapter 3: Women and the Armed Conflict in Sierra Leone ),” t.t. https://www.sierraleonetrc.org/index.php/view-the-final-report/download-table-of-contents/volume-three-b/item/witness-to-the-truth-volume-three-b-chapter-3?category_id=14.

Statute of the Iraqi supreme criminal tribunal, 2005, t.t.

Tas, Latif. “How International Law Impacts on Statelessness and Citizenship: The Case of Kurdish Nationalism, Conflict and Peace.” International Journal of Law in Context 12, no. 1 (Maret 2016): 42–62. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744552315000385.

“The Princeton principles on universal jurisdiction.” program in law and public affairs Princeton university ~ Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 2001.

Toivanen, Mari, dan Bahar Baser. “The Politics of Genocide Recognition: Kurdish Nation-Building and Commemoration in the Post-Saddam Era,” 27 Oktober 2022. https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/155602.

Trahan, Jennifer. “A Critical Guide to the Iraqi High Tribunal’s Anfal Judgement: Genocide Against the Kurds.” Michigan Journal of International Law 30, no. 2 (1 Januari 2009): 305–412.

UN convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of Genocide, 1948. (t.t.).

Yavuz, M. Hakan. “A preamble to the Kurdish question: the politics of Kurdish identity.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 18, no. 1 (1 April 1998): 9–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602009808716390.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24042/as-siyasi.v4i2.23575

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2024 Awara Hussein Ahmed

License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0