Judging the Acceptability of Amnesties: A Togolese Perspective

The relationships between the circumstances in which amnesties are granted and Togolese laypeople's judgments of their acceptability were examined. The 351 participants were instructed to read stories created by the authors in which a former police officer testified in front of a commission to receive amnesty. The stories were based on a five-factor design: quality of the information revealed, presence-absence of apologies, opportunity given to the victims for telling their story, compensation, and punishment of the applicant. Several interactions involving the truth and the apology factors were observed: Acceptability required the simultaneous presence of several positive aspects.