Uganda’s Amnesty Act (2000): pragmatism or forgiveness?

“What is unique with the Amnesty Act (2000) is that it was demanded by the victims … who were frustrated with the government’s inability to protect them.”

The Amnesty Act (2000) fits in a history of government-offered amnesty. Mr Stephen Oola offers a background against which to understand the Act – the bloody civil war in northern Uganda, in which the national government was unwilling or unable to protect the civilian population. In Mr Oola’s view, the Amnesty Law was victim-driven, with a view of bringing back the children who had been abducted and stimulating the political peace process.

Stephen Oola works as Programme Manager Conflict, Transitional Justice and Governance at the Refugee Law Project of Makerere University.

The interview was recorded in Kampala on December 3, 2015 at the office of the Refugee Law Project.