The concept of amnesty has a recurring use in the field of politics, since in this way the formal forgiveness, that is to say, the one that is done by law or by decree, to those crimes perpetrated in a political setting. Basically the amnesty excuses from criminal responsibility those individuals who were punished in a timely manner for committing a crime and from that moment on they will be considered innocent because the criminal figure that condemned them no longer exists..
It should be noted that amnesty and pardon are not the same and the main difference is that the amnesty as opposed to the pardon It eliminates any civil or criminal responsibility for an act, the crime committed is forgiven and the criminal record is even erased, while on the contrary, in the pardon the person will continue to be guilty, that is, the crime that he committed is not erased in a timely manner. it only frees him from having to serve the sentence to which he was punished. Even amnesty can even have retroactive implications.
Generally, amnesty results from the decision of the Legislative Power that ends up turning it into law and is quite common in those contexts of political or social changes in which agreements or alliances are made and then those people who are imprisoned for political reasons benefit the most. , the famous political prisoners.
However, it is common for amnesties to arouse scandals and voices against it because either people who have committed serious crimes or crimes that have caused a lot of damage to a society or community are left free and in total impunity.
Among the synonyms that can be used for this word stands out that of absolve, while as an opposite concept we can mention that of condemn that implies the pronouncement of a sentence for someone who has committed a crime.
Moreover, it is known as International Amnesty to a global association that has a strong presence in more than one hundred countries and whose main mission is promote and defend the fulfillment of human rights that are recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was created in the year 1962, in the City of London, by lawyer Peter Solomon Benenson.
