Algeria Votes to Forget

How do societies move past horrific events? That's an excrutiatingly tough question that's relevant in any number of countries, least of which Iraq, where Saddam Hussein's trial is gearing up. In Chile, we've seen people doggedly trying to hold Pinochet responsible for the murders of his regime. Algeria has gone the opposite route by plebiscite:

Algerians have voted to put their country's bloody past behind them, overwhelmingly backing a peace charter which grants amnesty to extremists responsible for tens of thousands of deaths.

The Government's Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation was passed with 97.43 per cent support from 80 per cent of the 18 million voters, Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni announced today. In provinces hardest hit by 13 years of civil war, participation exceeded 90 per cent.

Mr Zerhouni told a news conference: "The high level of participation and the 'yes' vote are a real backing for President Bouteflika's project. We hope that what was decided by our people will result in good things for the country."

That remains to be seen. Whole account here.

Although there are questions about the participation rates in Algeria, at least the vote seemed to be pretty inclusive (which is not the same as saying it's legitimate, or that the whole idea will work). This sort of thing has a pretty long history. My favorite weird example is Charles II of Britain's 1660 Act of Oblivion and Indemnity, which offered amnesty to many puritans who participated in Cromwell's Commonwealth even as it criminalized any mention of the same. With a generation–and partly due to the annoying antics of the restored crown's court–Britain had morphed into a constitutional monarchy via the Glorious Revolution.

More recently, South Africa has attempted to move beyond the crimes of the Apartheid regime via a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that is generally regarded as pretty successful. Which is not to say everything is hunky-dory there, as this 2004 Reason story makes clear.