Crime against humanity
A
crime against humanity is a term in
international law that refers to acts of
murderous persecution or any large scale atrocities against a body of people, as being the criminal offense above all others.
Crimes against humanity are considered similar to
war crimes and share some similar characteristics, but they differ in that crimes against humanity are usually targeted towards a particular group and need not occur in a war context.
On
May 24,
1915, the Allied Powers, Britain, France, and Russia, jointly issued a statement explicitly charging for the first time ever another government of committing "a crime against humanity". This joint statement stated::"[i]n view of these new crimes of
Turkey against humanity and civilization, the
Allied Governments announce publicly to the
Sublime Porte that they will hold personally responsible for these crimes all members of the
Ottoman Government, as well as those of their agents who are implicated in such massacres"
[1915 declaration]
*ffirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution 106th Congress,,2nd Session, House of Representatives
*:Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution (Introduced in House of Representatives) 109th Congress, 1st Session, :H.RES.316, June 14, 2005. 15 September 2005 House Committee/Subcommittee:International Relations actions. Status: Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 40 - 7.
* "Crimes Against Humanity", 23 British Yearbook of International Law (1946) p. 181
* Schabas References pp. 16-17
* Original source of the telegram sent by the Department of State, Washington containing the French, British and Russian joint declaration.
The
London Charter of the International Military Tribunal was the decree that set down the laws and procedures by which the post
World War II Nuremberg trials were to be conducted. The charter defined that only crimes of the European
Axis Powers could be tried. Article 6 stated that the Tribunal was established for the trial and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis countries; paragraph 6.a defined
crimes against peace, 6.b
war crimes and paragraph 6.c::Crimes Against Humanity: namely,
murder,
extermination,
enslavement, deportation, and other
inhumane acts committed against any
civilian population, before or during the war; or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated.
[Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 1 Charter of the International Military Tribunal contained in the Avalon Project archive at Yale Law School]In the Judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Trial of German Major War Criminals it was stated::The Tribunal therefore cannot make a general declaration that the acts before 1939 were crimes against humanity within the meaning of the Charter, but from the beginning of the war in 1939 war crimes were committed on a vast scale, which were also crimes against humanity; and insofar as the inhumane acts charged in the Indictment, and committed after the beginning of the war, did not constitute war crimes, they were all committed in execution of, or in connection with, the aggressive war, and therefore constituted crimes against humanity.
[Judgement : The Law Relating to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity contained in the Avalon Project archive at Yale Law School]The systematic persecution of one racial group by another, such as occurred during the
South African apartheid government, was recognized as a crime against humanity by the
United Nations in 1976.
[International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid dopted and opened for signature, ratification by General Assembly resolution 3068 (XXVIII) of 30 November 1973. Entry into force 18 July 1976, in accordance with article X (10)]In
2002, the
International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in
The Hague (Netherlands), following the principle of
universal jurisdiction. The "
Rome Statute" provides for the ICC to have jurisdiction over
genocide, crimes against humanity and
war crimes. Article 7 of the treaty stated that::For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack
[Rome statute of the International Criminal Court Article 7: Crimes against humanity.]: ::(a)
Murder; ::(b)
Extermination; ::(c)
Enslavement;::(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;::(e)
Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; ::(f)
Torture; ::(g)
Rape,
sexual slavery, enforced
prostitution, forced
pregnancy, enforced
sterilization, or any other form of
sexual violence of comparable gravity; ::(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political,
racial, national, ethnic,
cultural,
religious,
gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;::(i)
Enforced disappearance of persons;::(j) The
crime of apartheid;::(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
The term has been criticized for being extremely vague and for being politically defined. For example,
Nazi attempts to eliminate certain ethnic groups were recognized as having been crimes against humanity, yet the
Soviet persecutions of certain groups were not.
*
The Interpreter, film about a character apparently based on
Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe seeking to avoid indictment by the
UN Security Council for trial before the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
*
Nuremberg Principles*
International crime*
Command responsibility*
Historical revisionism*
War crimes*
Genocide*
Mass murder*
Democide*
Ethnic cleansing*William A. Schabas,
Genocide in International Law: The Crimes of Crimes, Cambridge University Press, 2000,
*
Crimes of War project*
Human Rights First, formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
