GC: n
S: ACAOUP – https://academic.oup.com/jicj/article-abstract/4/3/466/814228#14135447 (last access: 20 November 2020); SL – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1475-2875-13-209 (last access: 18 November 2020).
N: 1. – crime (n): from Old French crimne “crime, mortal sin” which originates from Latin crimen – genitive criminis “charge, indictment, accusation; crime, fault, offense,” which probably is from cernere “to decide, to sift”, attested from mid-13c.
– against (prep): referring to agenes “in opposition to, adverse, hostile; in an opposite direction or position, in contact with, in front of, so as to meet,” attested from 12c. The unetymological -t turned up mid-14c. and was standard by early 16c.
– humanity (n): from Old French humanité, umanité “human nature; humankind, life on earth; pity,” which originates from from Latin humanitatem (nominative humanitas) “human nature; the human race, mankind” attested from late 14c.
‘crime against humanity’ is often used in its plural form ‘crimes against humanity’.
2. Crime against humanity is an atrocity (such as extermination or enslavement) that is directed especially against an entire population or part of a population on specious grounds and without regard to individual guilt or responsibility even on such grounds.
3. The notion of crimes against humanity has evolved under international customary law and through the jurisdictions of international courts such as the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Many States have also criminalised crimes against humanity in their domestic law; others have yet to do so. Crimes against humanity have not yet been codified in a dedicated treaty of international law, unlike genocide and war crimes, although there are efforts to do so.
4. Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Crimes Against Humanity reads as follows:
- 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:
- Murder;
- Extermination;
- Enslavement;
- Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
- Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
- Torture;
- Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
- 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;
- Enforced disappearance of persons;
- The crime of apartheid;
- Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
- For the purpose of paragraph 1:
- ‘Attack directed against any civilian population’ means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph 1 against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack.
5. In contrast with genocide, crimes against humanity do not need to target a specific group. Instead, the victim of the attack can be any civilian population, regardless of its affiliation or identity. Another important distinction is that in the case of crimes against humanity, it is not necessary to prove that there is an overall specific intent.
6. The Stolen Generations in Australia which started in 1910 and continued until the 1970’s refers to many aborigine children that were kidnapped and taken away from their families by force under the justification that their indigenous families were incapable of taking care of their children and providing them a future. However these children were often used as slavery and child labour. Although it was not acknowledged as such as the time, this was a prime example of a crime against humanity within Australian history.
S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=crime; https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=against; https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=humanity; MW – https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crime%20against%20humanity (last access: 18 November 2020). 2. MW – https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crime%20against%20humanity (last access: 18 November 2020). 3 to 5. UN – https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/crimes-against-humanity.shtml (last access: 18 November 2020). 6. AT – https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/stolen-generations (last access: 18 November 2020).
SYN:
S:
CR: crime, enforced disappearance, homicide, human rights, humanity, intergovernmental organisation, International Criminal Law, international humanitarian law, international protection, law of war, war crime, violation of human rights
