12 Commissioning justice Truth commissions and criminal justice THE PRACTICE OF TRUTH COMMISSIONS REJECTS THE GRANTING OF AMNESTY FOR CRIMES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW IN CONNECTION WITH TRUTHSEEKING PROCESSES The practice of the majority of truth commissions rejects the supposed legality of “conditional” amnesty, when such amnesty covers crimes under international law. 3 Truth commissions originally given the power to grant or recommend amnesty for crimes under international law Truth commissions with NO power to grant amnesty for crimes under international law 37 Of the 40 truth commissions examined in this paper, only three were given the power to recommend or grant amnesty (or immunity) for crimes under international law (South Africa, Grenada and Indonesia). In the case of South Africa and Indonesia, the power to grant or recommend amnesty for serious human rights violations was considered to be unlawful by either national or international bodies. In the case of Grenada, the Commission itself expressed doubts about the legality of its powers. The epilogue to the 1993 Interim Constitution of South Africa decided that an amnesty would be granted “in respect of acts, omissions and offences associated with political objectives and committed in the course of the conflicts of the past”.2 In the statute of the 1995 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) the granting of amnesty was subjected to a full disclosure by the perpetrator of all the relevant facts relating to the criminal act.3 The South African amnesty, which included crimes under international law, such as torture and enforced disappearance, was conditional, that is, it was granted in exchange for the fulfilment of a condition by the perpetrator (the disclosure of information). This became known as the ‘amnesty for truth’ process. In January 2005, the UN International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur considered: The Commission has looked at several accountability mechanisms that formed part of certain Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRC). In one of these, amnesties were granted to perpetrators of serious violations of human rights and Amnesty International April 2010 Index: POL 30/004/2010