What kind of politics does Judge Yakov Ostrovsky of the United Nations 
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda follow?  Is he liberal / 
conservative, internationalist / favoring national sovereignty, pro-state 
control / pro-individual liberty, does he have any religious viewpoint, 
anything else of particular note?  (terms as understood in American political 
vocabulary)

I cannot find anything that ties him to any particular political view,
but I have found a career brief at
http://www.un.org/ictr/english/factsheets/intro.html

Ostrovsky seems to have worked outside Russia for the most of his
career (with the UN).  He does specialize in Human Rights, so that
might indicate a stance towards individual freedom - but don't take my
word for it.  Hope this helps a bit.

Diplomatie Judiciaire (judicial diplomacy) is located at
http://www.diplomatiejudiciaire.com/UK/Home.htm and a search on
Ostrovsky there will give you numerous hits.  If you examine some of
the cases reviewed there, maybe you will find more on the judge's
political and/or religious viewpoints.

Seems to me you might have known this with a simple google query

from :   http://www.ictr.org/wwwroot/ENGLISH/factsheets/ostrovsky.htm


Judge Yakov A. Ostrovsky was born in 1927. He was Professor of
International Law at the Moscow State Institute of International
Relations as well as a Member of the Scientific Council of the Moscow
Institute of International Law. Judge Ostrovsky was Council Member of
the Moscow Association of International Law; Consultant on
International Public Law and Humanitarian Law to the Constitutional
Court and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. From 1960 to
1966, he was appointed Chief of Social and Legal Problems Desk in the
former USSR’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. He represented
the former USSR in the Commission on Human Rights and the
Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities. He has worked on a wide range of international law issues,
especially in the field of Human Rights and, since 1987, he has been
Legal Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a rank of
Ambassador in large. Judge Ostrovsky graduated from the Moscow State
Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in 1950 and The Hague Academy of International Law in 1957.

Dear Poete,

Hi!  Thank you for your inquiry!

Unfortunately, my searches thusfar have not been able to conclude any
hard evidence towards any of his political leanings - making him, in
my opinion - a smart politician, but as they say, if you don't stand
for something, you'll fall for anything.  However, I have found some
useful information.

He seems to have a fair or unbiased critique of the International
Criminal Tribunal Court, noting their inefficiency in an article
talking about the fact that in five years the court has spent $209m
and only dealt with a paltry five cases…   To read all of his comments
(which reiterate that I don’t think he takes a stand for much) and the
whole article, see:
Associated Press
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/rwanda12.htm

UN Retort to the above:
http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/1998/issue3/398p5.htm

Who’s on the court with him:
Press Release
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1998/19981103.ga9495.html

For a brief list of Judge Ostrovsky’s credentials and previously held
positions, visit:
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
http://www.ictr.org/wwwroot/ENGLISH/factsheets/ostrovsky.htm

Interesting excerpt:
Judicial Diplomacy
http://www.diplomatiejudiciaire.com/UK/Tpiruk/BagosoraUK3.htm

“When the Trial Chamber granted the prosecution’s request to adjourn
trial in March 1998, Judge Yakov Ostrovsky could hardly have foreseen
that his impassioned dissent would still resonate three-and-a-half
years later:  ‘It is of crucial importance to fulfill [the Tribunal’s]
mission and before the expiration of our mandate, in May 1999, to
begin and complete the trials at least of the primary perpetrators of
the Rwandan genocide as well as those [such as Bagosora] who remain
detained for more than two years without trial.’”

Here are some articles in French mentioning him, from my vague
recollection of French it didn’t look like he said much of anything,
but I know your French is much better than mine:
All Africa
http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200203010702.html
http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200202280715.html
United Nations
http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/TestFrame/4cb6e3291d58131d8025670b003f2d15?Opendocument

More in English:
ICTR
http://www.pict-pcti.org/news/archive/May/ICTR.05.21.html
http://www.pict-pcti.org/news/archive/April/ICTR.04.19.Cyang.html

The Government of the Russian Federation
http://www.government.gov.ru/english/

Also, and this is soley in my opinion, I would guess based on his age
and background there is a good chance that he is or was a former
member of the KGB, or communist party.  Many important people with any
political power his age were often sent abroad during his lifetime
(look at his resume).  There is a chance that he is a conservative and
nationalist because of his Russian heritage (he's 75).  I'm sure there
are exceptions to the rules, and one can always change their opinions,
but looking at the obvious...

Hopefully more to come later from a Russian friend.

Hope this was helpful!

Best Regards,
Skis4JC

I've only been able to find two references to Yakov Ostrovsky's views
on Russian sites (by searching Google in Russian).

In one of them, his recent article is cited where he explains that
when UN tries to protect human rights and freedoms, the organization
is not supposed to intrude in any country's internal affairs, or
interfere with anything that is within that country's jurisdiction;
UN's only role is to ensure compliance with international laws.
See 

"Evropejskie standarty v oblasti prav cheloveka" ["European standards
in the area of human rights"], by G.E. Lukjancev, Zvenja Publishers,
Moscow, 2000.
http://www.memo.ru/library/books/Lukjanc/ 

In another article, his speech from a 1995 Russian Parliament's
hearing on the Caspian Sea is quoted; in it, he says that it's no use
trying to formally divide Caspian Sea resources between the new states
(former SU republics), because they have already been divided 'de
facto', and any efforts in the direction of a formal treaty will be
useless because American and British monopolies are now influencing
the politics of those new states and inducing them to counteract any
such efforts.

See "Politicheskaja stabil'nost' i regiona'nye otnoshenija"
["Political stability and regional relations"], by Vladislav Shoroxov,
1995

http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:uN5fKG82klcC:poli.vub.ac.be/publi/crs/caucasus/shorokhov.htm+%EC%E8%E4%E0+%EE%F1%F2%F0%EE%E2%F1%EA%E8%E9&hl=ru

I agree that he looks like a person who does not display his political
views or affiliations. After all, a judge is not supposed to have any
political views; at least, he's definitely not supposed to parade them
around in public.