HRW: Trials for abusive leaders needed

NEW YORK, July 7 (UPI) -- Ignoring atrocities perpetrated by abusive leaders only reinforces a culture of impunity that encourages future abuse, a U.S. human rights group says.

Human Rights Watch, in a release Tuesday from its New York office, said its new report titled "Selling Justice Short: Why Accountability Matters for Peace" draws on the group's 20 years of work to document how demands for trials for abusive leaders rarely undermine efforts to resolve conflicts.

The group said that negotiators and officials too often undervalue the pursuit of justice and instead weigh competing objectives in ending armed conflicts, and in so doing deny dignity to victims by not acknowledging their suffering.

"The conventional wisdom that pursuing justice in the midst of a conflict will undercut chances at peace has not proven true," said Sara Darehshori, senior counsel in Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program and author of the report. "The sky has not fallen. In fact, an indictment may move negotiations forward by marginalizing and stigmatizing an abusive leader."

The report cites the examines Liberia's Charles Taylor, Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic and Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army, saying their indictments did not have the predicted negative impact on peace talks.