Full Description
In June 2009, Richard Goldstone was a global hero, honored by the MacArthur Foundation for its prize in international justice. Four months later, he was called a "quisling" and compared to some of the worst traitors in human history. Why? Because this champion of human rights and international law chose to apply his commitments to fairness and truth to his own community.
The Trials of Richard Goldstone tells the story of this extraordinary individual and the price he paid for his convictions. It describes how Goldstone, working as a judge in apartheid South Africa, helped to undermine this unjust system and later, at Nelson Mandela's request, led a commission that investigated cases of racial violence and intimidation. It also considers the international renown he received as the chief United Nations prosecutor for war crimes committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, the first tribunals to try political and military leaders on charges of genocide. Finally, it explores how Goldstone became a controversial figure in the wake of the Jewish jurist's powerful, but flawed, investigation of Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Richard Goldstone's dramatic life story reveals that even in a world rife with prejudice, nationalism, and contempt for human rights, one courageous man can advance the cause of justice.
Contents
Contents
Prologue Icon and Pariah
1 Divisions
2 The Striver
3 Cracks in the Wall
4 Demonstrations
5 The Third Force
6 In the Footsteps of Robert Jackson
7 A Patchwork Court
8 Big Fish, Little Fish
9 The Paper Tiger
10 The Bargaining Chip
11 In the Dock
12 Rwanda
13 Globetrotter
14 Cast Lead
15 Gaza
16 The Goldstone Report
17 Outrage
18 Bar Mitzvah
19 Retraction
Epilogue Legacies
Acknowledgments
Bibliographical Note
Notes
Index
