Customer Reviews

For Humanity: Reflections of a War Crimes Investigator (Castle Lectures Series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Richard Goldstone's latest book takes you on a journey, which is not only starkly graphic and honest in its depictions but allows you to be privy to particular times of historical importance, which have been previously hidden from the public eye. Furthermore, Goldstone, in this book, not only concretises the meaning and substance of Humananitarian law BUT elavates it to a higher level, bringing home the message that it can happen again...

The UN fact finding mission on the three week war in Gaza last winter has published it's report.
It is a report that is polarizing many supporters on both sides. Richard Goldstone, a Jew and committed Zionist headed the inquiry. So who is he? What do we make of his report?. There can be no better starting point than to read what he wrote long before the UN inquiry was contemplated. So appropriately he called it "For Humanity".
It is essentially a bringing together of three lectures delivered at Yale university
It chronicles his experiences as head of the Goldstone commission, and unintentionally his role in establishing the truth behind "third force" activities in the lead up to 1994 democratic elections in South Africa.
The commission was appointed by De Klerk the last apartheid president. Forty enquiries later its work was done and arch enemies, although exposed had come to understand the meaning and merits of an impartial inquiry.
The impartiality continued and the respect for it became international. His next experiences were as investigator/ prosecutor for UN Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Since reading this I have reread the "Gaza report" and it reads very differently second time around. It's recommendations deserve serious consideration. Richard Goldstone cautions in FOR HUMANITY: "...when nations ignore victims' calls for justice, they are condemning their people to the terrible consequences of ongoing hatred and revenge".
The author lists three lessons to be learned from the UN War Crimes Tribunal. The second of these is simply:For a political body such as the Security Council to have the power to decide where humanitarian law will or will not be enforced, is unacceptable.

Goldstone is a skillful lawyer and a dedicated human rights activist. He played a central role in South Africa's transition to democracy and in the purusit of justice in the former Yugoslavia. He has a sharp eye for bureaucratic absurdity (especially in the UN). He knows world leaders and could have written a fascinating "inside" history. Instead, he produced this short, lightweight book comprised of little more than anecdotes and name-dropping. It's incredible that Yale University Press saw fit to publish it. We can only hope that Goldstone will turn to writing a serious autobiography after he steps down from the South African Constitutional Court.

I wrote the review of "For Humanity" immediately below ("Lazy Book"). Even though my review was negative, I recently reread Goldstone's book after hearing him speak at a conference in Washington. His intelligence and decency must have made an impression on me, because I enjoyed "For Humanity" a lot more the second time.

I stand by my original assertion that the book is slight and unworthy of a jurist of Goldstone's stature; his failure, for example, to analyze the cases he prosecuted in Bosnia is inexplicable, given the sub-title of the book. In the end, however, I'm giving the book two extra stars just because it was written by Goldstone. He is a courageous, decent man who did the right thing at a time when many white South Africans evaded politics and took refuge in lives of privilege. In addition, his anecdotes are pretty good, especially those at the expense of UN bureaucrats.

So...people should read his book, but they shouldn't have any illusions about what they'll find. Goldstone provides little historical context about the end of apartheid or the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Anyone looking for that history should look elsewhere. However, those who already know the basic story (I used to live in South Africa) may enjoy his book. It's a good read and can be polished off in three or four hours. Now, if Goldstone would just write a serious autobiography about his amazing career in law, human rights advocacy, and diplomacy, he'd get five star reviews!

I was looking for the specifics of the South African problem and reconciliation. Goldstone focuses on the logistics of his position as judge/prosecutor, rather than on specific crimes and prosecutions. O'Connor's introduction is the most interesting part of the book.

Makes you appreciate the success of the Nuremberg trila and how it was put togather in the days witout modern cominications and it uniting of the world in the quest for international justice against perpetrators of war crimes