Carla Del Ponte

Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947 in Lugano, Switzerland) is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in August 1999, replacing Louise Arbour. In 2003, the U.N. Security Council removed Del Ponte as the Prosecutor for the ICTR, and replaced her there with Hassan Bubacar Jallow in an effort to expedite proceedings in that Tribunal. She remained the Prosecutor for the ICTY until 1 January 2008, when she was succeeded by Serge Brammertz. Del Ponte was formerly married, and has one son.

She conducted an investigation on the allegations of organ trafficking by the KLA of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Albania for the Parliament of Europe.

She's currently the Swiss ambassador to Argentina.

Early life and education

Del Ponte was born in Lugano, Switzerland in 1947. She speaks fluent Italian, German, French and English. Del Ponte studied law in Bern and Geneva, as well as in Britain. She obtained her LL.M. in 1972.

After completing her studies, Del Ponte joined a private law firm in Lugano, leaving in 1975 to set up her own practice.

Prosecutor at the Lugano district

In 1981 she was appointed an investigating magistrate, and later public prosecutor at the Lugano district attorney's office. As public prosecutor, Del Ponte dealt with cases of money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, terrorism and espionage, often looking into the many international links forged in Switzerland's role as a global business centre.

It was during that period that she and Investigative Judge Giovanni Falcone uncovered the link between Swiss money launderers and the Italian drug trade in the so-called "pizza connection". Judge Falcone was killed by a large Mafia bomb. Del Ponte was more fortunate as the half a tonne of explosives planted in the foundations of her Palermo home were discovered in time for her to escape the attempted assassination unhurt. Falcone's death nurtured Del Ponte's resoluteness to fight organised crime. Her enemies in the Cosa Nostra call her "La Puttana" ("the whore"). She therefore became the first public figure in Switzerland to require round-the-clock protection and armour-plated car.

Career at the ICTY

After serving for five years as Switzerland's attorney general, in 1999 Del Ponte joined the ICTY and ICTR to deal with war crimes as prosecutor. In an interview in late 2001 about war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, Del Ponte said: "Justice for the victims and the survivors requires a comprehensive effort at international and national level."

On January 30, 2007 Del Ponte announced her intention to resign as Chief Prosecutor at the ICTY at the end of the year, stating it was "time to return to normal life." [ [http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/article392625.ece/Del_Ponte_legt_in_september_functie_neer Del Ponte legt in september functie neer - Buitenland - de Volkskrant ] ] She was succeeded by Serge Brammertz on January 1, 2008.

She has been nominated as Switzerland's Ambassador to Argentina from January 2008.

Organ smuggling accusations

In 2008, Del Ponte published a book "The Hunt" in which she collected rather extensive evidence that the Kosovo Albanians were smuggling human organs of kidnapped Serbs after the Kosovo war ended in 1999. Her book created an international controversy. [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120812796372611429.html?mod=googlenews_wsj The Wall Street Journal] ]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had said of Del Ponte's allegations: "The Tribunal is aware of very serious allegations of human organ trafficking raised by the former Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, in a book recently published in Italian under her name. No evidence in support of such allegations was ever brought before the Tribunal’s judges." [ [http://www.un.org/icty/briefing/2008/pb080416.htm ICTY Weekly Press Briefing ] ]

On 4 April 2008 the Human Rights Watch wrote to Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha in request to open investigations on the matter under international supervision. By 3 May both had ignored the letters and instead publicly rejected del Ponte's claims as unsubstantiated. On 5 May 2008 the Human Rights Watch confirmed the allegations from Del Ponte's book and issued a public call to Tirana and Pristina for cooperation.

The reported alleges the victims were more than 400 Serbs missing from the war. "Serious and credible allegations have emerged about horrible abuses in Kosovo and Albania after the war," said Fred Abrahams, HWR Senior emergencies researcher of HRW.

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo's published official forensic report from 2004 also confirms Del Ponte's allegations.

In 2008 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe authorized Carla Del Ponte to lead a formal investigation and employed a watcher to report her findings to the Parliament.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.imow.org/wpp/stories/viewStory?storyId=1504 Feature on Carla del Ponte by the International Museum of Women]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7141827.stm Ms. Del Ponte prepares for the role of Swiss ambassador to Argentina]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1809185.stm BBC News profile on Carla Del Ponte] and [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/profile/profile_del_ponte.shtml BBC Radio 4 documentary summary]
* [http://findingkaradzic.blogspot.com Blog devoted to the hunt for Radovan Karadzic]
* [http://www.debalie.nl/artikel.jsp?podiumid=politiek&articleid=91996 Carla Del Ponte in debate 'Courting Justice' at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, November 26 2006]
* [http://www.newstatesman.com/europe/2008/08/pilger-kosovo-war-nato-serbs New Statesman article, August 14, 2008]