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Swapping Amnesty For Peace: Was There A Duty To Prosecute International Crimes In Haiti?, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

By examining the political realities of the Haiti situation and the applicable provisions of treaty and customary law, this Article seeks to assess whether the Haitian amnesty did indeed achieve "a proper mix." To this end, the Article begins with a description of the abuses reportedly committed by Haiti's military regime and the international community's attempts to restore the democratically-elected govemment to power. Next, it explores the policy arguments for and against amnesty as applied to the Haitian situation and analyzes the scope of both the Haitian amnesty law and President Aristide's amnesty decree. This section is followed by a …