Editing International Criminal Court (section)

===Amnesty and national reconciliation processes===
It is unclear to what extent the ICC is compatible with reconciliation processes that grant [[amnesty]] to human rights abusers as part of agreements to end conflict.<ref name="dworkin">
Anthony Dworkin (December 2003). [http://www.crimesofwar.org/icc_magazine/icc-intro.html "Introduction"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070916165219/http://www.crimesofwar.org/icc_magazine/icc-intro.html |date=16 September 2007 }} in ''The International Criminal Court: An End to Impunity?''  Crimes of War Project. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
</ref> Article 16 of the Rome Statute allows the Security Council to prevent the Court from investigating or prosecuting a case,<ref name="RomeStatute" />{{rp|article 16}} and Article 53 allows the Prosecutor the discretion not to initiate an investigation if he or she believes that "an investigation would not serve the interests of justice".<ref name="RomeStatute" />{{rp|article 53}} Former ICC president [[Philippe Kirsch]] has said that "some limited amnesties may be compatible" with a country's obligations genuinely to investigate or prosecute under the Statute.<ref name=dworkin/>

It is sometimes argued that amnesties are necessary to allow the [[peaceful transition of power|peaceful transfer of power]] from abusive regimes. By denying states the right to offer amnesty to human rights abusers, the International Criminal Court may make it more difficult to negotiate an end to conflict and a transition to democracy. For example, the outstanding arrest warrants for four leaders of the [[Lord's Resistance Army]] are regarded by some as an obstacle to ending the insurgency in Uganda.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN056745.html |title=Uganda Urges Traditional Justice for Rebel Crimes |author=Tim Cocks |date=30 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221135043/http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN056745.html |archive-date=21 February 2008 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Alasdair Palmer |date=14 January 2007 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/01/14/do1409.xml |title=When Victims Want Peace, Not Justice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219151919/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fopinion%2F2007%2F01%2F14%2Fdo1409.xml |archive-date=19 February 2008 |newspaper=[[The Sunday Telegraph]]}}</ref> Czech politician Marek Benda argues that "the ICC as a deterrent will in our view only mean the worst dictators will try to retain power at all costs".<ref>
{{cite news |author=Alena Skodova |date=12 April 2002 |url=http://www.radio.cz/en/article/26826 |title=Czech Parliament Against Ratifying International Criminal Court |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220071329/http://www.radio.cz/en/article/26826 |archive-date=20 February 2008 |publisher=[[Radio Prague]] |access-date=11 January 2007}}</ref> The United Nations<ref>
See, for example, {{cite web |author=Kofi Annan|author-link=Kofi Annan |date=4 October 2000 |url=http://www.afrol.com/Countries/Sierra_Leone/documents/un_sil_court_041000.htm |title=Report of the Secretary-General on the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525023709/http://www.afrol.com/Countries/Sierra_Leone/documents/un_sil_court_041000.htm |archive-date=25 May 2006 |access-date=31 December 2006}} Paragraph 22.</ref> and the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jean-Marie Henckaerts |author2=Louise Doswald-Beck |year=2005 |title=Customary International Humanitarian Law, Volume I: Rules |pages=613–614 |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-80899-6}}</ref> maintain that granting amnesty to those accused of war crimes and other serious crimes is a violation of international law.