Breaking the Circle of Impunity. Carla Del Ponte Ending the Cat-and-Mouse Game of International Justice
Breaking the Circle of Impunity. Carla Del Ponte Ending the Cat-and-Mouse Game of International Justice

Summary/Abstract: The book Madame Prosecutor portrays Carla Del Ponte’s life struggle against the culture of impunity and reveals her true enthusiasm as a prosecutor. (Publishing of the English version 2009: Carla Del Ponte in collaboration with Chuck Sudetic: “Madame Prosecutor: Confrontation with Humanity’s Worst Criminals and the Culture of Impunity”, New York: Other Press. The book was first published in Italian in April 2008 as “La Caccia” by the Feltrinelli publishing house.) This memoir firstly highlights the complex interplay between justice and politics and, secondly, strongly denounces those who have been blocking the arrest of indicted war criminals and access to key documents and sensitive archives. Although a memoir, the tone of the book is quite objective. Nevertheless, based on a few highly selective extracts, most of the international press have presented the book inaccurately. Conceived as a review essay, this article attempts to provide an insight into the internal logic of the Del Ponte memoir, underlining Del Ponte’s true personality, some decisive episodes and crucial issues of transitional justice.

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