A former war crimes prosecutor is resigning from a UN commission investigating human rights abuses in Syria because it "does absolutely nothing".
She added: "I cannot remain on this commission that does absolutely nothing."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Del Ponte also said there was no "good or bad" in the country anymore. "Everyone in Syria is on the bad side," she said. "The Assad government has perpetrated horrible crimes against humanity and used chemical weapons and the opposition is now made up of extremists and terrorists."
"The commission was set up in August 2011 and has regularly reported on human rights violations, but its pleas to observe international law have largely fallen on deaf ears," The Guardian reports.
Del Ponte, a Swiss lawyer, has been involved since September 2012, "chronicling incidents such as chemical weapons attacks, genocide against Iraq's Yazidi population, siege tactics and the bombing of aid convoys", says Deutsche Welle.
The commission has "released about a dozen reports", says the BBC, "but investigators have never gained access to Syria itself, instead relying on interviews, photos, medical records and other documents".
According to Euronews, "there is no sign of any court being established to try war crimes committed in the six-and-a-half year-old war, nor of any intention by the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court in the Hague".
Del Ponte's resignation leaves two commissioners on the panel, Karen Koning AbuZayd from the US and Brazil's Paulo Pinheiro.
-
The doctors’ strikesThe Explainer Resident doctors working for NHS England are currently voting on whether to go out on strike again this year
-
5 chilling cartoons about increasing ICE aggressionCartoons Artists take on respect for the law, the Fourth Amendment, and more
-
Political cartoons for January 24Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include 3D chess, political distractions, and more
-
Syria’s Islamic State problemIn The Spotlight Fragile security in prison camps leads to escape of IS fighters
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
