“Governing the nation is more important than revenge”

Abstract: Issuing amnesty in the aftermath of violent conflict is a debated topic within Peace and Conflict studies. This thesis intends to contribute to the debate by investigating how the amnesty issued for Kurdish collaborators of the genocide in 1988, influences reconciliation in Iraqi Kurdistan. To achieve this, a content analysis of statements and news articles is employed to analyze the government's and population's perceptions of three themes of reconciliation, Mercy, Truth, and Justice following Lederach’s reconciliation theory. The study illustrates that amnesty has influenced all three themes of reconciliation. From the government’s perspective, issuing amnesty has compromised Truth and Justice by not remembering the collaborators' participation in the genocide and not acknowledging the survivor’s narratives. Justice has been disturbed by the failure to prosecute collaborators, and the unequal relationship between collaborators and survivors taints compensation. From the population’s perspective, there is an unwillingness to forgive the collaborators, and they seek Justice and Truth by wanting punishment of the collaborators and an acknowledgment of their role in the genocide. The study suggests that amnesty has promoted a culture of impunity and denied justice and that the region's aspirations for independence may disturb a genuine reconciliation process in Iraqi Kurdistan.