Global Policy Forum

By Steven Edwards

Carla Del Ponte has spoken out about her forced exit as chief United Nations prosecutor for the Rwanda genocide court, saying the world body gave in to pressure from Paul Kagame, the country's President, who objected to her investigations of members of his political organization. "It is true politics played a big role," Ms. Del Ponte said in an interview published yesterday marking her last visit to Arusha, seat of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

In another interview, she said Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, had been "inflexible" when she appealed for his help in plugging leaks that had begun to undermine her authority. Mr. Annan, who is from the West African country of Ghana, had been under pressure to recommend an African to replace Ms. Del Ponte, a Swiss national, who made her name prosecuting the Italian Mafia.

For some observers, Ms. Del Ponte's comments will cast a shadow over the aims of the tribunal, which is mandated to probe all war crimes in Rwanda in 1994, which left at least 500,000 people dead, mostly Tutsis. Ms. Del Ponte succeeded Canada's Louise Arbour as chief prosecutor for its ad hoc war crimes tribunals in 1999, and secretly launched what she called "Special Investigations" against the 1994 activities of the mainly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) as it fought to overthrow the Hutu-led government that carried out the genocide. Led by Mr. Kagame, then a rebel, the RPF is suspected of having killed at least 45,000 Rwandan civilians as it made its way to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, and end the genocide by snatching power. Although the number of deaths is just a fraction of the number killed on behalf of the Hutu-extremist government, international rights activists say all atrocities should receive attention from a court established to dispense justice fairly. It is unclear to what extent Ms. Del Ponte's successor, who is from the West African country of Gambia, will pursue the Special Investigations.

The UN Security Council named Hassan Bubacar Jallow, of the Gambian Supreme Court, chief ICTR prosecutor after deciding last month Ms. Del Ponte's four-year contract as ICTR prosecutor would not be renewed when it expired on Sept. 15. The council renewed Ms. Del Ponte's appointment to the UN's other ad hoc court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which is probing atrocities in the Balkans in the 1990s, and currently has Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav leader, on trial.

In speaking out, Ms. Del Ponte revealed for the first time the extent of her commitment to completing her investigations against the RPF. "When I was told [by Mr. Annan] that each tribunal would have its own prosecutor, I personally requested whether I could choose," she said according to comments released yesterday by Hirondelle, an Arusha-based agency that monitors the ICTR. "I believe I would have opted for the ICTR because I still remain with one challenge -- Special Investigations. Unfortunately, I was not given the luxury of choosing."

Ms. Del Ponte said she had no doubt Mr. Kagame's calls for her resignation were made as a result of her investigations into possible RPF atrocities. "It is clear that it all started when we embarked on these Special Investigations," she said. "Therefore, yes, pressure from Rwanda contributed to the non-renewal of my mandate."

In another interview, Ms. Del Ponte told how she flew to New York in July to speak personally with Mr. Annan and seek his backing in standing up to Rwanda. "I had grasped what the Rwandans were up to," she told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "But I wanted to explain to the Secretary-General that it was not the right moment to split the two tribunals. "I had no doubt that Kofi Annan would back me as he had done on other occasions. Instead, everything had already been decided." She said Mr. Annan refused point blank to allow her to choose the ICTR over the ICTY. "No. The trial against Milosevic is too important to be left in the hands of someone else," she quoted him as saying.

Though the Rwandan government has prevented ICTR investigators from interviewing anyone inside Rwanda about possible RPF atrocities, Ms. Del Ponte is believed to have had four cases ready to go. They have not been mentioned, however, by the new prosecutor.

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