Political crimes and the political offence exception in extradition law and refugee law have been subject to extensive academic analysis. However, there has been much less scrutiny of amnesties for political crimes. This omission is surprising given that even though amnesties for international crimes and serious human rights violations are increasingly restricted under international law and policy, intergovernmental organizations and international humanitarian law continue to encourage amnesties for conflict-related political crimes within their transitional justice and mediation policies, even for offences such as rebellion and treason.

This report explores the complex role of amnesties in addressing political crimes. It analyses how this category of offences is applied to a diverse activities ranging from participating in armed insurgencies to engaging in non-violent dissent in non-conflict settings. Drawing on a sample of 374 amnesties for political crimes that were enacted from 1990 to 2023, the report finds that contrary to observations drawing from extradition law that the political offence exception is disappearing, amnesties continue to be used within states to create exceptions in the application of criminal justice. The report argues that the expansion of the counter-terrorism framework, which has eroded protections for combatants contained in international humanitarian law, and the growing criminalization of dissent have both served to expand the repressive use of criminal law, which amnesties for political offences often seek to remedy.

The report further analyses how the legality of amnesties for political crimes may depend the context in which the crimes were committed, the types of political offences covered by the amnesty, and how they intersect with the duty to prosecute international criminal and serious human rights violations and with human rights law protections for individual’s rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and political participation.