Though many of the longest and most devastating internal armed conflicts have been fought
within the boundaries of democratic states these countries employ some of the highest numbers
of human rights prosecutions. What conditions prompt this outcome and what explains the
variable patterns of prosecutions in democracies at war? Prosecutions may be enabled by
existing democratic norms and institutions but given their role in a violent conflict
democratic governments may go to great lengths to avoid judicial accountability. Through
qualitative and quantitative research of four cases Sri Lanka Northern Ireland Spain and
Colombia this book argues that emergency and anti-terrorism laws issued during the conflict
created barriers to the investigation and prosecution of state human rights violations. The
extent to which state actors were held accountable was shaped by citizens NGOs and political
actors who challenged or upheld impunity provisions within emergency legislation.
