The trouble with amnesties
Promises of immunity are easily given to dictators and other nasties. Are they too easily broken as well?
ONCE, assassination would have done the trick. The leader with too much power, or whose rule was too nasty, could be relieved of his command with a bullet or a bomb (or, as the CIA tried with Fidel Castro, an exploding cigar). Today, it is a matter not of bumping off, but of winkling out. The bad guys must be wheedled from office, or tempted to give up their guns. For that, promises that wicked deeds will be forgotten, even forgiven, have proved useful.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The trouble with amnesties”
From the August 19th 2000 edition
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