For Humanity: Reflections of a War Crimes Investigator

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Throughout his career, the distinguished South African jurist Richard J. Goldstone has been deeply committed to promoting human rights in his own country and abroad. A justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa since 1994, he has also served as chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation in South Africa and chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In this engrossing and inspiring book, Justice Goldstone provides an intimate account of his progression from a young activist opposing South Africa's racial policies to the world's first independent war crimes prosecutor.

Justice Goldstone begins by describing how he became involved in the transition of South Africa from an apartheid state to a democracy and why he was chosen in late 1992 to head the commission that investigated criminal conduct that accompanied that transition. He then considers his time as chief prosecutor for the United Nations Tribunals, speaking not only of the fundamental legal issues that have arisen but also of his personal experiences and feelings. Arguing in favor of the move toward establishing a permanent international criminal court, he offers a stirring defense of the role of international tribunals in holding human rights violators accountable.

SYNOPSIS

In this stirring book Richard J. Goldstone chronicles his progression from a youthful activist opposing South Africa's racial policies to the world's first independent war crimes' prosecutor. A justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Goldstone has also served as chief prosecutor for United Nations tribunals on human rights crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. His unique firsthand experience investigating these crimes gives profound weight to his plea for a permanent international criminal court. The Castle Lectures in Ethics, Politics, and Economics

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The strength of this book lies less in its words than in the experiences of the author Goldstone, a South African who chaired the commission that investigated atrocities committed under apartheid and also chief prosecutor of tribunals in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In this series of lectures, originally presented at Yale, Goldstone first traces his own rise from liberal student activist to lawyer to justice on one of South Africa's highest courts. During this time, he visited thousands of South African prisoners (who had committed no crime and were detained without trial) and attempted to convince "unsympathetic police officers to adopt a more humane attitude toward the detainees." The bulk of this dryly written book, however, is devoted to his work on the South African commission that bore his name and the two war tribunals. In all three cases he naturally defends the role of international law in holding human rights violators accountable. Goldstone occasionally abandons his generally amiable tone for some criticism of the Clinton administration and former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. But a more critical approach to the war crimes tribunals (which have been accused by others of ineffectiveness) might have better supported his claim that the U.N. has "sent out messages to would-be war criminals that the international community is no longer prepared to be committed without the threat of retribution." Maps. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Chuck Sudetic - New York Times Book Review