ACTU : La Commission d'enquête sur la Syrie n'est pas en mesure de se prononcer sur l'emploi d'armes chimiques

David ROY

Contrairement à la déclaration de Carla Del Ponte du 5 mai, la Commission d'enquête internationale indépendante sur la Syrie a déclaré le 6 mai ne pas pouvoir conclure à l'utilisation éventuelle d'armes chimiques par les parties au conflit dans ce pays.

Formée de Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, qui en est le président, de Karen AbuZayd, de Carla Del Ponte et de Vitit Muntarbhorn, la Commission a été créée, le 23 août 2011, par le Conseil des droits de l'homme des Nations Unies pour enquêter sur toutes les violations des droits de l'homme perpétrées en Syrie. Elle a également reçu pour tâche d'enquêter sur les allégations de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans ce pays. La Commission présentera son prochain rapport au Conseil le 3 juin 2013.


« Par conséquent, la Commission n'est pas en mesure de commenter davantage ces allégations à ce stade », indique le communiqué de presse transmis le 5 mai. Son président, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, « rappelle à toutes les parties au conflit que l'utilisation d'armes chimiques est prohibée en toutes circonstances par le droit international humanitaire coutumier ».

Par ailleurs, le 20 mars dernier, le Secrétaire général de l'ONU avait créé une mission d'établissement des faits, avec à sa tête le professeur Ǻke Sellström, pour vérifier les allégations selon lesquelles des armes chimiques auraient été employées en Syrie.

Cette décision avait été prise suite à une requête officielle des autorités syriennes, qui avaient demandé à M. Ban une « mission spécialisée, impartiale et indépendante chargée d'enquêter sur les allégations selon lesquelles des armes chimiques ont été utilisées » dans le cadre du conflit en Syrie, spécifiquement sur un incident qui se serait produit dans le village de Khan al-Assal, aux environs d'Alep. Le 21 mars, le Secrétaire général avait été saisi d'une demande émanant des missions permanentes de la France et du Royaume-Uni auprès des Nations Unies, lui demandant d'enquêter sur d'autres incidents.

Depuis sa création, la mission d'établissement des faits est stationnée à Chypre, en l'attente de son déploiement, qui n'a toujours pas été autorisé par le gouvernement syrien, en dépit des appels répétés du Secrétaire général.

La Commission d'enquête internationale indépendante sur la Syrie et la mission d'établissement des faits sur les allégations d'emploi d'armes chimiques ne sont pas liées.

Source : ONU

John Hudson, « U.N. investigator on Syria: Out over her skis yet again? », FP Froreign Policy, May 6, 2013 

With the United Nations now walking back statements by Carla Del Ponte about the use of chemical weapons by Syrian rebels, the storied war-crimes investigator is finding herself in a familiar position: Having her remarks muted by her own organization.

Today, the U.N. issued a statement saying it "wishes to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict." The statement comes 24 hours after Del Ponte, a lead investigator of the U.N.'s Independent International Commission of Inquiry, suggested that the preponderance of evidence implicates the Syrian rebels over the government. "There are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated," she told a Swiss TV channel. "This was used on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities."

Del Ponte's allegations were further scrutinized Monday by the White House, which called her remarks "incredible," and the State Department,  which said the United States believes Syria's large chemical weapons stockpiles remain securely in the hands of the regime.

Del Ponte is a legend in international circles: the nemisis of some of the world's worst tyrants and war criminals. She is a former chief prosecutor of two U.N.-backed tribunals, including the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Just this week, the New Yorker described her as an "indefatigable" lawyer. But that doesn't mean she doesn't come off half-cocked from time to time -- leaving the U.N. to "clarify" her remarks and clean up the mess.

In December 1999, Del Ponte quite dramatically raised eyebrows after being asked if she was prepared to press criminal charges against NATO related to war-crimes allegations in Kosovo. She told London's Observer, "If I am not willing to do that, I am not in the right place: I must give up the mission." Four days later, after an international uproar, her office walked it back, saying "NATO is not under investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. There is no formal inquiry into the actions of NATO during the conflict in Kosovo."

In 2008, Del Ponte again stirred the pot at the U.N. with the publication of her book The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals, which alleged the systematic theft and smuggling of human organs from kidnapped Serbs in the aftermath of the Kosovo war. The allegations were so contested, and controversial, that the Swiss government, for which she worked at the time as its ambassador to Argentina, banned her from promoting the book because of the effect it would have on the country's foreign relations. Authorities on the tribunal, such as Mirko Klarin, described the allegations as "irresponsible and appalling ...She shouldn't put rumours in her book."

Back at the U.N. Tribunal, where she very recently left, Del Ponte's remarks again had to be clarified. "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," said an ICTY spokesperson. "No evidence in support of such allegations was ever brought before the Tribunal's judges."

Del Ponte also put herself out on the line in 2005 when she accused the Vatican of helping Croatia's most-wanted war crimes suspect, Gen. Ante Gotovina, avoid capture and prosecution, speculating that he was hiding in a monastery in Croatia. Gotovina was later acquitted after an appeal, an outcome Del Ponte protested. "I'm shocked. I was very surprised and shocked." she told Serbian reporters. 

This isn't to suggest that Del Ponte's chemical weapons claims are false, but it's worth remembering she has something of a history when it comes to shooting from the hip ahead of an official U.N. consensus.