Former UN chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has stated in an interview with the NZZ on Sunday that she will withdraw from politics. She also criticized the United Nations again. The organization was a „big disappointment“ for her. It concerns a „Schwatzbude“, in which there are too many civil servants and officials. „Few really work,“ said Del Ponte.
Del Ponte served as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the United Nations in The Hague from 1999 to 2007, with responsibility for the resolution of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In 2017, the Swiss resigned as Special Investigator of a commission of inquiry of the UN Human Rights Council on war crimes in Syria. She justified the step at that time with the inaction of the commission. She hoped that the International Criminal Court or a newly created court would sanction war crimes in Syria, said Del Ponte. The UN Security Council had been blocked and stood in the way of such an approach – and instead did nothing.
In the interview with the NZZ Del Ponte also criticized the international justice, which was at a low point. „Human rights are no longer valid,“ said the 71-year-old, who wants to retire at the end of the year. But it must continue to believe that „an independent international court can create justice.“
She also attacked the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Half of the 47 countries that currently have rotating membership violate human rights on a daily basis, she said. Countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and Burundi would therefore have to be immediately thrown out of the Council.
Del Ponte has also criticized the United Nations in the past. In her book In the Name of the Victims, she was already counting on the „failure of the UN and international politics in Syria.“ It also states that international politics have no interest in prosecuting the perpetrators.
