Will Syria’s war criminals ever be brought to justice?

This week on UpFront, we interview former war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, who last year quit the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria in protest, saying that justice for Syria’s victims was not possible.

And in a special discussion, we look at the escalation of violence in Gaza with humanitarian aid worker Najla Shawa and Donald MacIntyre, author of Gaza: Preparing for Dawn.

Headliner – Former chief prosecutor: ‘Security Council is guilty’

In August 2017, Carla del Ponte quit the UN’s investigative commission for Syria, blaming the Security Council for its inaction. More than a year later, has anything changed and does she have any regrets?

Passing resolutions in the UN Security Council “is still not possible because Russia is still putting an obstacle to each, each decision to obtain justice for the victims,” she said.

Del Ponte, who was formerly the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, explained that without political will, justice for war crimes is impossible. And while unlike in Syria, those tribunals were set up to investigate crimes against humanity, she also acknowledged their limitations.

Asked whether she believes that NATO committed war crimes during its bombing campaign of Kosovo, del Ponte replied that she was unable to conclude an investigation and issue an indictment “because the states were refusing to cooperate with the tribunal.”

Special discussion: Is another war in Gaza imminent?

In a special discussion this week, we discuss why Palestinians in Gaza are losing hope with humanitarian aid worker Najla Shawa and journalist Donald MacIntyre

Since the Great March of Return began earlier this year, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have protested along the fence with Israel, demanding their right to return to the land they were expelled from more than 70 years ago. According to health officials in Gaza, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed and 18,000 wounded since these latest rallies began.

Recently, rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza and three Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Is another full-scale Israeli attack on the strip inevitable?

Donald MacIntyre, former Jerusalem correspondent for The Independent and author of the book, Gaza: Preparing for Dawn, describes it as “a very fragile and dangerous situation”.

MacIntyre adds the most positive thing is that “neither Hamas nor Israel really wants a war right now, if it can be avoided.”

Najla Shawa is a Palestinian humanitarian aid worker based in Gaza. When asked what priorities are for people in Gaza, Shawa says they fear continued denial of their rights, “I think… what now people are really… fearing is another political solution that can completely ignore the rights, again, of the people, more than before, more than …previous peace agreements.”

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