Richard Goldstone on Documenting a Common History
Richard J. Goldstone is a justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, which has been trusted with the task of interpreting the new South African Constitution and supervising the country's transition into democracy. He is a member of the international panel established in August 1997 by the government of Argentina to monitor the inquiry into Nazi activity in the republic since 1938. Goldstone is also chairperson of the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo established in 1999; national president of the National Institute of Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (NICRO); chairperson of the Bradlow Foundation, a charitable educational trust; and head of the board of the Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA).
Before taking a seat on the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Goldstone served as chairperson of the Standing Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation-later known as the Goldstone Commission. The Commission played a critical role in defusing the political violence that erupted when apartheid in South Africa began eroding in the late 1980s as the country moved toward its first democratic elections. From 1994 to 1996, Goldstone served as the chief prosecutor of the United Nations International War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
In this clip from a talk he gave for Facing History, entitled "For Humanity, Reflections of a War Crimes Investigator," Justice Goldstone discusses the value of the TRC in recording a common history of the apartheid era. He compares this aspect to the Nuremberg trials in Germany after World War II.
Before taking a seat on the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Goldstone served as chairperson of the Standing Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation-later known as the Goldstone Commission. The Commission played a critical role in defusing the political violence that erupted when apartheid in South Africa began eroding in the late 1980s as the country moved toward its first democratic elections. From 1994 to 1996, Goldstone served as the chief prosecutor of the United Nations International War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
In this clip from a talk he gave for Facing History, entitled "For Humanity, Reflections of a War Crimes Investigator," Justice Goldstone discusses the value of the TRC in recording a common history of the apartheid era. He compares this aspect to the Nuremberg trials in Germany after World War II.
Transcript:
"The most important benefit to South Africa of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is exactly like Margot suggests, that we now have a common history of what happened during the Apartheid Era. Without the truth coming out one gets different histories and you get denials and you get revisionism. It was the main value today, I believe, of the Nuremberg Trials. The Nuremberg Trials recorded efficiently and painstakingly what happened during the Nazi-period, including the Holocaust."
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Video length:
00 min 35 sec
Date filmed:
Jan 23 2001 
