Crimes Against Humanity

What are Crimes Against Humanity (CAH)?

• Definition: According to the 1998 Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC), CAH refer to specific crimes that are “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.”
  • These crimes include murder, torture, sexual violence, enslavement, persecution, enforced disappearance, etc.
  • The statute further mentions that crimes against humanity do not need to be linked to an armed conflict and can also occur in peacetime, similar to the crime of genocide.
• Origin of the term: Its origin goes back to the late 18th and early 19th century, when it was used in the context of slavery and the slave trade, and to describe atrocities associated with European colonialism in Africa and elsewhere.
• Other important crimes in the international law:

Crimes Against Humanity (CAH) Under International Law

• Crimes against humanity appeared for the first time in a treaty in the 1945 Nuremberg Charter at the end of the Second World War, albeit with a different definition than today.
• Since the 1990s, CAH have been codified in different international treaties such as:
  • The Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (1993),
  • The Statute of the International Tribunal for Rwanda (1994), and
  • The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998).
• Adjudication of Crimes Against Humanity (CAH):
  • Unlike genocide and war crimes, crimes against humanity aren’t officially codified in an international treaty but are still adjudicated in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other global bodies.
  • Although crimes against humanity are tried at the ICC, the court doesn’t have the power to arrest suspects.

What is the Status of CAH in India?

• India is not a party to the Rome Statute, which means that it is under no obligation at present to enact separate legislation dealing with CAH.
• Also, the Indian representatives at the International Law Commission (ILC) have shown their concerns regarding negotiations for the adoption of the separate treaty on CAH.
• Reasons for India’s reluctance to actively participate in the negotiation process on a separate Convention on CAH:
  • Negotiations at ILC seeks to adopt the same definition of CAH as provided in the Rome Statute. India is not in favour of using ‘widespread or systematic’ as one of the conditions, but prefers ‘widespread and systematic’, which would require a higher threshold of proof.
  • Second, India wanted a distinction to be made between international and internal armed conflicts. This was probably because its internal conflicts with Naxals and other non-state actors in places like Kashmir and the Northeast could fall under the scope of CAH.
  • The third objection related to the inclusion of the enforced disappearance of persons under CAH. India is of the view that it has signed but not yet ratified the UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, therefore, it is under no obligation to criminalize it through domestic legislation.

What are the Geneva Conventions (1949)?

• The Geneva Conventions (1949) and their Additional Protocols are international treaties that contain the most important rules limiting the barbarity of war.
• They protect people who do not take part in the fighting (civilians, medics, aid workers) and those who can no longer fight (wounded, sick and shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war).
  • The first Geneva Convention protects wounded and sick soldiers on land during war.
  • The second Geneva Convention protects wounded, sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war.
  • The third Geneva Convention applies to prisoners of war.
  • The fourth Geneva Convention affords protection to civilians, including in occupied territory.
• India is a party to the Geneva Convention.

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