Former International War Crimes Tribunal Chief Prosecutor: Who is Carla del Ponte?
Del Ponte, known for her outspokenness, reiterated her disappointment in the lack of accountability for the terrible crimes committed in Syria, where more than 360 thousand people have died since the outbreak of the war in 2011.
UN War Crimes Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte was appointed as the prosecutor of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslav Republic and the International War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda in August 1999, replacing Louise Arbour.
Born in Lugano, Switzerland, on February 9, 1947, del Ponte studied law in Bern, Geneva, and Britain, and received her master's degree in law in 1972. After completing her studies, del Ponte joined a private law firm in Lugano; she left here in 1975 to establish her own law firm.
Carla Del Ponte (born February 9, 1947) is a Swiss 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.
Del Ponte, who was appointed as the investigative judge of the Lugano region in 1982, was later appointed as the public prosecutor in the same place. As the people's prosecutor, she dealt with issues such as fraud, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, terrorism, and espionage. During this mission, del Ponte's partner, Falcone, who, together with Judge Giovanni Falcone, revealed the so-called "pizza connection" between Swiss money launderers and Italian drug traffickers, was killed by a bomb placed in her car.
Del Ponte was luckier than Falcone and escaped death, as the half-ton of explosives placed in the foundations of her house in Palermo were detected before the explosion. Falcone's death increased del Ponte's determination to fight organized crime.
Del Ponte, who served as the chief prosecutor of Switzerland for 5 years, joined the Yugoslavia International War Crimes Tribunal and the Rwanda International War Crimes Tribunal in 1999 to deal with war crimes.
Del Ponte expressed her views on the war crimes that occurred in the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s by saying, "Achieving justice for victims and survivors depends on a holistic effort on a national and international scale."
Stating that the case against former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic is very important, del Ponte said that she vowed not to stop until certain war criminals are brought to justice.
Del Ponte is divorced and has one child.