Madame Prosecutor: Confrontations with Humanity's Worst Criminals and the Culture of Impunity

Today's news report explains the gist of this book the best. -- Serbia fully committed to cooperation with ICTY President of the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY Rasim Ljajic met today with ICTY President Patrick Robinson. This is Robinson's first official visit to Belgrade. According to a statement issued by the National Council, Ljajic informed Robinson about Serbia's efforts and commitment in cooperating with the tribunal. Ljajic also told Robinson about current activities for apprehending the remaining two Hague indictees, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. Robinson said that he is aware of the changes in Serbia's overall political climate and of the commitment of the Serbian authorities to fully cooperate with the tribunal, adding that he thinks that this is extremely important for confronting the past, for reconciliation to take place in the region and for strengthening the rule of law. Serbia's initiative to create conditions for Hague indictees found guilty to serve their prison terms in their respective countries was also discussed at the meeting. Robinson stressed that the ICTY has received several such demands from Slovenia and Croatia, adding that this is the right moment to consider the issue and it is possible that the Security Council will make a final decision regarding this matter within the foreseeable future. The issue of providing medical aid to indictees in detention was also discussed. It was stated that Serbian doctors should be more involved in this process. -- Carla Del Ponte goes into juicy and fascinating -- in a terrifying sense -- detail to expose the pretense from the above news clipping. You'll get a behind the scenes look into the dirty world of international politics that shows that law and justice are not that close together. She lifts the vail off some of the key players from the past years which gives us a lot of insight into today's key players (e.g. Rasim Ljajic and Patrick Robinson in the news clipping). I agree with the previous reviewer that it reads like a thriller rather than a memoir. Was there a lot of details that could bore some readers? Yes. I think the details are what make this book so interesting and at times frustrating. You'll feel her frustration as she fights to bring justice and some sort of piece of mind to the victims' families from Rwandan and Srebrenica genocides. Whether reading about the war crimes in Rwanda or former Yugoslavia you'll see that the overall picture is the same with the exception of maybe geography.

This is not--as the title might suggest to you--a book that substantially consists of personal confrontations between the prosecutor and war criminals. In fact, there is a strongly tedious quality to this book; over and over, at length and with considerable detail, the author (who was in charge of the tribunals pursuing war criminals in Rwanda and in the Balkans area of the former Yugoslavia) describes how she was delayed, evaded, and stonewalled by a wide array of people. Sometimes this is interesting; as the same thing--with differing details, according to locale--is presented chapter after chapter, it becomes boring and frustrating. It very much appears that she is wanting to tell the world that this sort of thing requires stonger tribunals and greater support for the effort that goes into their success. In fact, she details a number of points in the Epilogue of the book, addressing just this matter. She was not as successful as she believes was needed in Rwanda, and predicts future problems there, as a consequence. My guess is that this book would most appeal to lawyers, aspiring law students, people with strong interest in the functioning of the United Nations, and to a lesser extent, those who want to learn the history of the crimes committed in Rwanda and in the Balkans. This is not a who-dunnit or a story focused on the criminals themselves; it is a book focused on the procedural efforts and frustrations of trying to construct a successful prosecution of the persons indicted. While not the most exciting read, it does provide information that you will not find many other places, and of course this is directly "from the horse's mouth," as we say. Ms. Del Ponte is a living testament to what a strong woman can be like and achieve in the world.