Expert Witness with Sondos Asem

Martin Griffiths: Has the UN failed to prevent two genocides in Gaza and Sudan?

In this episode of Expert Witness, Middle East Eye news editor Sondos Asem speaks to Martin Griffiths, the former UN aid chief to discuss the latest in Gaza and Sudan, where two of the worst humanitarian crises in the world have been taking place over the past two years. Griffiths had over fifty years of professional experience as a humanitarian, British diplomat and conflict mediator with the United Nations and other global institutions. He has served as the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, which is the top humanitarian aid position at the United Nations. In this capacity he served for three years between July 2021 and July 2024, under the leadership of Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He presided over the UN’s humanitarian aid efforts in the first nine months of Israel’s devastating onslaught on Gaza, widely considered a genocide.

UN rapporteur Ben Saul on Gaza, Unrwa and the legality of arms transfers to Israel

Ben Saul is the UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights and the Challis Chair of International Law at the University of Sydney. In this episode of Expert Witness, he discusses the legal implications of US President Donald Trump's Gaza "take-over" plan, Israel's ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), and other international law questions arising from Israel's war on Gaza. Filming date: 26 February 2025

What is The Hague Group? | Interview with Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla

In this in-depth interview, Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, the chair of The Hague Group, discusses why nine states launched a coalition in January 2025 to hold Israel accountable under international law. Filming date: 17 March 2025, London

The future of the UN agency for Palestinians | Unrwa's Philippe Lazzarini

What is the future of Unrwa, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees? In this episode of Expert Witness, Unrwa chief and Swiss-Italian humanitarian Philippe Lazzarini talks to Middle East Eye’s news editor Sondos Asem on the current humanitarian situation in occupied Palestine, and the future of the cash-stapped agency. Lazzarini is the 11th commissioner-general of Unrwa, the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to some six million Palestinians in occupied Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. He reflects on the funding crisis faced by the organisation and calls on UN member states and the Arab world to step in to compensate for the vacuum left by the withdrawal of US funding in January 2024. Filming date: 22 May 2025, Geneva,Switzerland

How can the ICC be protected against sanctions? | Meg Satterthwaite

What steps should be taken to protect the International Criminal Court? In this episode of Expert Witness, Professor Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, discusses with Sondos Asem the implications of President Donald Trump’s executive order of 6 February, which sanctioned the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan over his investigation into top Israeli officials.