This book is about amnesties adopted, reluctantly and in contexts of mass violence, for serious crimes under international law. The subject is naturally controversial. My intention in writing the book is merely to contribute to the debate, not to resolve it. The issue belies any neat solution.

More than any other measure, it is amnesty that constitutes the lightning rod – the hot-button issue – for individuals and groups dedicated to the fight against impunity. In that respect, the subject offers an important lens through which to understand the almost-seismic legal-political shift that has taken place in the global fight against impunity since the end of the Cold War – from the establishment of ad hoc international and hybrid criminal tribunals to the creation of the permanent International Criminal Court, the emergence of truth and reconciliation commissions, and the adoption of a formal UN position on amnesties that reverses the institution's long-standing prior practice.

My intention with this book is to be polemical. I believe some of my colleagues in the global fight against impunity have been moving too quickly toward closure of the amnesty debate. As someone who has chosen a professional career in human rights, and has advised on the question of amnesty in more than a dozen states, I have long been troubled by this premature push to close the debate. The fact is that there are many fundamental questions concerning amnesty that remain unresolved and that require debate.