Part One: In the Heat of the Moment: Justice Issues during Peace Talks

In the short-term, it is easy to understand the temptation to forego justice in an effort to end a war. Peace negotiations may be carried out almost literally at gunpoint, with war-weary participants desperate to end the conflict at any price. However, Human Rights Watch research has shown that efforts at justice, often assumed to be antagonistic to peace negotiations, do not necessarily have the anticipated dampening effect on discussions.

At the same time, in situations where a decision is taken to forego justice (either explicitly with a formal amnesty or implicitly by ignoring human rights violations), the desired objective of peace is not always achieved. Those who go even further and attempt to placate human rights abusers by incorporating them into the government have also found that this may not be the panacea that will end the violence.