Del Ponte set to lose Rwanda mandate

swissinfo.org ^ | July 29, 2003 3:09 PM | swissinfo with agencies

[Destro]

Del Ponte set to lose Rwanda mandate

swissinfo July 29, 2003 3:09 PM

Switzerland’s Carla del Ponte looks set to lose her position as chief prosecutor for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, says she should be relieved of her Rwanda mandate, but should continue to head up the war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

Del Ponte nabbed Milosevic, but her scorecard on Rwanda is less impressive (Keystone Archive)

On Tuesday, Annan made his formal recommendation to the 15-member UN Security Council, which has the final say in the matter.

Since becoming chief prosecutor in 1999, Del Ponte has built up a reputation as a fearsome and stubborn crime fighter. She was instrumental in bringing the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, to trial.

But she has faced mounting criticism from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Rwanda for failing to track down suspected war criminals of the 1994 genocide.

Annan said in a letter to the 15-nation Security Council that it was time to split the prosecutor's job into two positions "so that they are occupied by different people."

He said that as the two tribunals try to end their work, it was in the interest of "efficiency and effectiveness" that each has it own prosecutor.

Annan added that he had no candidates yet to replace Del Ponte but in the interim the deputy prosecutor for Rwanda, Bongani Christopher Majola, should do the job. Del Ponte's four-year term expires in September.

Stronger influence

Del Ponte has previously said she would fight to keep the joint mandate. Her spokeswoman, Florence Hartmann, says separating the two positions would weaken their influence.

“A joint prosecutor is stronger and has more authority,” she told swissinfo. “It can press the state to cooperate more easily.”

Observers say the Council’s five permanent members, including the United States and Britain, have indicated they support two separate mandates.

Del Ponte’s four-year term expires on September 15.

Rwandan genocide

Despite her success in bringing suspected war criminals to trial at The Hague – the seat of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia – Del Ponte’s record in Rwanda is less glowing.

So far, only 15 cases relating to the Rwandan genocide have gone to court. The genocide left over 800,000 people dead when the Hutu majority rose up against the Tutsi people.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which is based in Arusha, Tanzania, has also faced numerous administrative problems since its inception in 1995.

But Hartmann says a number of investigations have been held up by resistance from the government.

“There have been steps made by the authorities in [the Rwandan capital] Kigali, including pressure on the prosecutor to prevent some of the investigations she was carrying out.”

She added Del Ponte had encountered the most resistance from the Tutsi-led government during her investigations of suspected possible atrocities committed by the Tutsi army.

Del Ponte complained of the Rwandan authorities’ lack of cooperation to the Security Council last year, but the government rejects the claim.

swissinfo with agencies

[Destro]

So the UN went after the fake politically motivated Yugoslav genocide trials and ignored the true genocide in Rwanda

When Clinton was president he ignored the deaths of 200,000 Rwandans who were killed up close with machetes and the like in just one month and he focused us on the Bosnian war which barley killed 20K to 50K people over a decade.

[Destro]

bump

[sgtbono2002]

She Nabbed Milosovic?? Has he been found guilty. I didnt hear that he had been found guilty. Last I heard he was holding his own in a Kangaroo court.

[Hoplite]

Don't worry Destro - it's pretty much a given that had we done anything in Rwanda there would be idiots playing down the crimes there and attributing our intervention to nefarious motives.

Whatever - instead of pinging me, why not direct your whining to the State Dept?

They're far less critical in response to the rantings of fools than I am.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

So clinton and the UN haven't found the perps of mass desruction, not the WMD, but the PMD who actually murdered hundreds of thousands. They have had seven years and still no PMD, WT hell is going on here.

[Tacis]

This just isn't fair. The Rwanda territory provides a modest but steady personal revenue stream to Del Ponte and requires relatively little effort. And, just as the prospects improve with income from the minerals stolen in Congo, Kofi snatches it away to give to one of his tribesmen. Just isn't fair!!

[Destro]

I remembered you asked why I never post about the Rwanda UN court--well here it is.

[Destro]

You heard right....With time running out, UN prosecutor admits she had yet to prove case of genocide against Milosevic

[Cdnexpat]

The court is a sham. Milosovic is more than holding his own. The prosecution is still only presenting their side and the case is rift with reasonable doubt. The left wing media is going to have to work double overtime to try to spin this into anything but a lynching. Just out of curiosity, how would you like to see Milosovic force Clinton testify about Muslim terrorism in the Balkins?