Amnesties, pardons, and national reconciliations.

Summary

Making use of political philosophy and law, we approach the theme of the pardon and its implications in contemporary public policies, especially regarding the experiences of countries with authoritarian traditions, like Brazil, Argentina, Chile and South Africa. Considering the reflections on the theme of the pardon by Jacques Derrida and Hannah Arendt, we seek to understand the relationship of actions like amnesties, pardons, and national reconciliations to the tension between memory and forgetfulness of the violations of human rights. Rethinking the traditional idea of pardon when confronted with politics and law requires one to consider an intrinsic relationship between the concepts of democracy and crimes against humanity.

Keywords: human rights, democracy, memory, pardon