As part of the Day of Peace festivities on Sunday 21 September, the Mayor of The Hague, Jozias van Aartsen announced that Richard J. Goldstone was to be the inaugural recipient of ‘The Hague Peace Philosopher’ position in April 2009.

Richard Goldstone is a long-standing and committed international jurist. He served as the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry in his native South Africa investigating violence committed by the police under apartheid and, from 1994 to 1996, was the Chief Prosecutor of the UN’s international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda.

The first Hague Peace Philosopher

The Hague Peace Philosopher is an initiative resulting from the new Spinoza Fellowship, a partnership between the Municipality of The Hague, the Netherlands Institute for Advance Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), Leiden University’s Campus Den Haag and Hague Justice Portal partner Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

During his three months in The Hague next year, Goldstone will work on a new convention on crimes against humanity. Additionally, the former Chief Prosecutor will give lectures, lead debates and produce a number of publications on his major theme: the growing cohesion between international humanitarian law and international human rights.

More information on Richard Goldstone and The Hague Peace Philosopher

 
Richard Goldstone first Peace Philosopher in The Hague