Crime against humanity

In international law, a crime against humanity is an act of persecution or any large scale
atrocities against a body of people, and is the highest level of criminal offense.
The Rome Statute Explanatory Memorandum states that crimes against humanity are
particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attac! on human dignity or
grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or
sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy "although the perpetrators
need not identify themselves with this policy# or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated
or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. $owever, murder, extermination,
torture, rape, political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the
threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic
practice. Isolated inhumane acts of this nature may constitute grave infringements of
human rights, or depending on the circumstances, war crimes, but may fall short of
meriting the stigma attaching to the category of crimes under discussion.
First uses
%n May &', ()(*, the +llied ,owers, -ritain, .rance, and Russia, /ointly issued a
statement explicitly charging for the first time ever another government of committing a
crime against humanity. +n excerpt from this /oint statement reads0
In view of these new crimes of Tur!ey against humanity and civili1ation, the +llied 2overnments
announce publicly to the Sublime ,orte that they will hold personally responsible for these crimes
all members of the %ttoman 2overnment, as well as those of their agents who are implicated in
such massacres.
Nuremberg trials
The 3ondon 4harter of the International Military Tribunal was the decree that set down
the laws and procedures by which the post56orld 6ar II 7uremberg trials were to be
conducted. The charter defined that only crimes of the European +xis ,owers could be
tried. +rticle 8 stated that the Tribunal was established for the trial and punishment of the
ma/or war criminals of the European +xis countries9 paragraph 8.a defined crimes against
peace, 8.b war crimes and paragraph 8.c0 4rimes +gainst $umanity0 namely, murder,
extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any
civilian population, before or during the war9 or persecutions on political, racial or
religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the /urisdiction
of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where
perpetrated.
In the :udgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Trial of 2erman Ma/or 6ar
4riminals it was stated0
The Tribunal therefore cannot ma!e a general declaration that the acts before ();) were crimes
against humanity within the meaning of the 4harter, but from the beginning of the war in ();)
war crimes were committed on a vast scale, which were also crimes against humanity9 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.
Apartheid
The systematic persecution of one racial group by another, such as occurred during the
South +frican apartheid government, was recogni1ed as a crime against humanity by the
<nited 7ations 2eneral +ssembly in ()=8. The 4harter of the <nited 7ations "+rticle
(;, (', (*# ma!es actions of the 2eneral +ssembly advisory to the Security 4ouncil.In
regard to apartheid, the <7 2eneral +ssembly has not made any findings, nor have
apartheid5related trials for crimes against humanity been conducted.
United Nations
The <nited 7ations has been primarily responsible for the prosecution of crimes against
humanity since it was chartered in ()'>. The <7 has been where all modern prosecutions
for crimes against humanity have occurred. The International 4riminal 4ourt "I44# was
recently organi1ed by the Rome Statute and the <7 has delegated several crimes against
humanity cases to the I44. -ecause these cases were referred to the I44 by the <7, the
I44 has broad authority and /urisdiction for these cases. The I44 acting without a <7
referral lac!s the broad /urisdiction to prosecute crimes against humanity, and cannot
prosecute many cases, particularly if they occur outside of I445member nations. The
most recent &??* <7 referral to the I44 of @arfur has not progressed well, according to
many commentators. The first person to be handed over to the I44 was Thomas
3ubanga. $is trial has still has not been completed. The I44 still is see!ing :oseph Aony.
6hen the I44 ,resident reported to the <7 regarding its progress handling this crimes
against humanity case, :udge ,hillipe Airsch said The 4ourt does not have the power to
arrest these persons. That is the responsibility of States and other actors. 6ithout arrests,
there can be no trials. The <7 has not referred any further crimes against humanity cases
to the I44 since March &??*.
UN Security Council responsibility
<7 Security 4ouncil Resolution (8=', adopted by the <nited 7ations Security 4ouncil
on &> +pril &??8, reaffirms the provisions of paragraphs (;> and (;) of the &??* 6orld
Summit %utcome @ocument regarding the responsibility to protect populations from
genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The resolution
commits the 4ouncil to action to protect civilians in armed conflict.
International Criminal Court
In &??&, the International 4riminal 4ourt "I44# was established in The $ague
"7etherlands# and the Rome Statute provides for the I44 to have /urisdiction over
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The definition of what is a crime
against humanity for I44 proceedings has significantly broadened from its original legal
definition or that used by the <7, and +rticle = of the treaty stated that0
.or the purpose of this Statute, crime against humanity means any of the following acts when
committed as part of a widespread or systematic attac! directed against any civilian population,
with !nowledge of the attac!0
"a# Murder9
"b# Extermination9
"c# Enslavement9
"d# @eportation or forcible transfer of population9
"e# Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules
of international law9
"f# Torture9
"g# Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterili1ation, or any
other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity9
"h# ,ersecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic,
cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph ;, or other grounds that are universally
recogni1ed as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this
paragraph or any crime within the /urisdiction of the 4ourt9
"i# Enforced disappearance of persons9
"/# The crime of apartheid9
"!# %ther inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious
in/ury to body or to mental or physical health.
The Rome Statute Explanatory Memorandum states that crimes against humanity
are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attac! on human dignity or grave
humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic
events, but are part either of a government policy "although the perpetrators need not identify
themselves with this policy# or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a
government or a de facto authority. $owever, murder, extermination, torture, rape, political,
racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts reach the threshold of crimes against
humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice. Isolated inhumane acts of
this nature may constitute grave infringements of human rights, or depending on the
circumstances, war crimes, but may fall short of meriting the stigma attaching to the category of
crimes under discussion. %n the other hand, an individual may be guilty of crimes against
humanity even if he perpetrates one or two of the offences mentioned above, or engages in one
such offence against only a few civilians, provided those offences are part of a consistent pattern
of misbehavior by a number of persons lin!ed to that offender "for example, because they engage
in armed action on the same side or because they are parties to a common plan or for any similar
reason.# 4onseBuently when one or more individuals are not accused of planning or carrying out
a policy of inhumanity, but simply of perpetrating specific atrocities or vicious acts, in order to
determine whether the necessary threshold is met one should use the following test0 one ought to
loo! at these atrocities or acts in their context and verify whether they may be regarded as part of
an overall policy or a consistent pattern of an inhumanity, or whether they instead constitute
isolated or sporadic acts of cruelty and wic!edness.
Council of Europe
The 4ommittee of Ministers of the 4ouncil of Europe on ;? +pril &??& issued a
recommendation to the member states, on the protection of women against violence. In
the section +dditional measures concerning violence in conflict and post5conflict
situations, states in paragraph 8) that member states should0 penalise rape, sexual
slavery, forced pregnancy, enforced sterili1ation or any other form of sexual violence of
comparable gravity as an intolerable violation of human rights, as crimes against
humanity and, when committed in the context of an armed conflict, as war crimes9
In the Explanatory Memorandum on this recommendation when considering paragraph
8)0
Reference should be made to the Statute of the International 4riminal Tribunal adopted in Rome
in :uly ())>. +rticle = of the Statute defines rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced
pregnancy, enforced sterilisation or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity, as
crimes against humanity. .urthermore, +rticle > of the Statute defines rape, sexual slavery,
enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation or any other form of sexual
violence as a serious breach of the 2eneva 4onventions and as war crimes.
To fall under the Rome Statute, a crime against humanity which is defined in +rticle =.(
must be part of a widespread or systematic attac! directed against any civilian
population. +rticle =.&.a states .or the purpose of paragraph (0 +ttac! directed against
any civilian population means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of
acts referred to in paragraph ( against any civilian population, pursuant to or in
furtherance of a State or organi1ational policy to commit such attac!. This means that an
individual crime on its own, or even a number of such crimes, would not fall under the
Rome Statute unless they were the result of a State policy or an organi1ational policy.
This was confirmed by 3uis Moreno5%campo in an open letter publishing his conclusions
about allegations of crimes committed during the invasion of IraB in March &??; which
might fall under the I44. In a section entitled +llegations concerning 2enocide and
4rimes against $umanity he states that the available information provided no
reasonable indicia of the reBuired elements for a crime against humanity, i.e. Ca
widespread or systematic attac! directed against any civilian populationC.

Influence on the arts
The Interpreter, a film about a character allegedly based on Robert Mugabe of Dimbabwe
see!ing to avoid indictment by the <7 Security 4ouncil for trial before the International
4riminal 4ourt on charges of crimes against humanity.
In SeasonE@ay ' of 24, a .%F Television Series, the Secretary of @efense, :ames $eller
"6illiam @evane# was captured by a terrorist cell in order to be tried for crimes against
humanity.
In the Sci5.i 4hannel series -attlestar 2alactica, several military personnel were tried for
crimes against humanity by an independent committee of Six personnel chosen to
secretly apprehend, try and execute offenders for complying with 4ylon control during
the events on 7ew 4aprica.