Features

October 21, 2008

Justice Richard Goldstone to be Honored with MacArthur Award for International Justice

The MacArthur Foundation will honor ICTJ Board Member Justice Richard J. Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, with the MacArthur Award for International Justice. Justice Goldstone joined ICTJ's Board of Directors in 2004.

As Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, Goldstone helped shepherd these courts, the first of their kind since Nazi war criminals were tried at Nuremberg following World War II. He stressed the importance of reaching top political and military perpetrators and, in 1995, filed charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic for their roles in the “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnian Muslims.

Goldstone also chaired the Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation in the aftermath of apartheid in his native South Africa. His service on the Commission proved invaluable to the democratic transition in that country, where he also served as an inaugural member of the Constitutional Court.

The Award provides Goldstone with $100,000 for his own work and invites him to suggest an additional $500,000 in support for non-profit organizations working on international justice issues. The Award will be conferred upon Justice Goldstone in The Hague on May 21, 2009.