Prof. dr. R.J. (Richard) Goldstone

The Goldstone Commission, formally called Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation, was established in October 1991 to investigate political violence and intimidation between July 1991 and the elections of 1994, which officially ended apartheid in South Africa. It was a delicate assignment, given the racial tensions, but Goldstone himself said, "The government was aware that I would not make findings against it without good cause, and the majority of South Africans had confidence that I would not hesitate to make findings against the government if the evidence justified it."

Goldstone studied Law at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, after which he became a lawyer. In 1976, he became a judge; in 1980, although an opponent of apartheid, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Transvaal and in 1989 to the Appeals Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa. In 1994, he was appointed to the Constitutional Court (established after the fall of the apartheid regime), where he served from the beginning of its work until 2003. In 1994, he was additionally appointed (the first) prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Rwanda Tribunal. In 2009, under his leadership, the Goldstone Report on the 2008-2009 Conflict in the Gaza Strip was released.