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Dictionary of Gross Human Rights Violations
Crimes Against Humanity
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Crimes against humanity include the following acts when committed as part of a systematic or widespread attack:
- Murder
- Extermination (large-scale killing or the deliberate bringing about of conditions of life intended to kill a part of a population, i.e. starvation)
- Enslavement
- Forcible transfer of population
- Imprisonment (arbitrary)
- Torture
- Rape, sexual slavery forced pregnancy, enforced prostitution, forced sterilization or any other sexual violence of a similar stature
- Persecution
- Enforced disappearance
- Apartheid (an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and dominance of one racial group over others)
- Other inhumane acts of a similar character and gravity (intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health). This is a residual clause intended to cover other forms of extreme and systematic human rights violations not specifically articulated in international criminal law.
These crimes may be committed in war or in peace. The perpetrator must possess a criminal intent (or recklessness) and they must be aware of the broader context or systematic nature of the crime. Crimes against humanity are considered to be part of customary international law. This means that they are subject to universal jurisdiction and that all states have a duty to “prosecute or extradite” and to assist in the provision of all necessary evidence. It should also be noted that there is no statute of limitations for such crimes and no immunity (even for heads of state).
Crimes against humanity differ from genocide in that crimes against humanity such as persecution offer protection to a broader range of groups than just “national, ethnical [sic], racial, and religious groups.” Moreover, crimes against humanity do not require an “intent to destroy in whole or in part.” Most crimes against humanity (with the exception of persecution) also do not require a special intent (i.e. they do not need to be attacks on an individual because of their membership in a certain group). Crimes against humanity differ from war crimes in that they do not need to occur in the context of an armed conflict.
The term “crimes against humanity” originated in the preamble to the 1907 Hague Convention. Crimes against humanity were first defined as law and prosecuted in 1945 by the International Military Tribunal (IMT, or Nuremberg Tribunal). The following international courts currently have jurisdiction over crimes against humanity: the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).
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