UN Member States should support a resolution to promptly begin formal negotiations of a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity, with the aim of strengthening the international justice framework and vastly reducing safe havens from investigation and prosecution for perpetrators, said Amnesty International today.
The organization’s call comes as the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Sixth Committee meets to debate the agenda item “Crimes against humanity”. The Sixth Committee session is scheduled to last until 22 November.
“The next six weeks present a unique opportunity for the international community to finally make progress on the negotiation and adoption of a convention on crimes against humanity. Such a treaty would open new pathways – desperately needed in today’s world – for ensuring justice, truth and reparation for victims and survivors of some of the most heinous of crimes,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Unlike other crimes under international law, such as genocide and war crimes, there is presently no specific, standalone convention for crimes against humanity. While the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) does outlaw crimes against humanity under international law, a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity, which would be applied by states, would reinforce and strengthen the overall international justice framework, including that of the ICC.
“The Crimes Against Humanity Convention could be a milestone treaty in more ways than one. It would impose obligations on states not only to criminalize and punish crimes against humanity, but also to prevent them, and to cooperate with other states, including through mutual legal assistance,” said Agnès Callamard.
The next six weeks present a unique opportunity for the international community to finally make progress on the negotiation and adoption of a convention on crimes against humanity.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
“The new convention would bring much-needed improvement of international standards on gender justice, including by recognizing gender-based crimes that have received far too little international attention, such as gender apartheid, forced marriage and forced abortion. It is well past time for an international law that’s fit to address the age-old war being waged on women, girls and LGBTI people in many corners of our planet.”
A convention on crimes against humanity would increase accountability
“A convention on crimes against humanity would make it much harder for perpetrators to escape justice. For instance, the present draft includes provisions for universal jurisdiction for all crimes covered. It would obligate states to either prosecute or extradite any suspects within their reach – regardless of where the crime was committed or the nationality of the suspect or the victim – and enable domestic courts to take up cases, including those that the International Criminal Court is unable or unwilling to pursue.”
Crimes against humanity are a worldwide phenomenon. In the past 10 years alone, Amnesty International has found evidence of such crimes in at least 18 countries all over the planet.
“No region on earth is free from these atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity. Recent and ongoing situations in countries such as Afghanistan, China, Ethiopia, Iran, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela serve as constant reminders of the urgent need to reinforce the international justice system,” said Agnès Callamard.
Read more about the legal framework:
- Why we need a standalone Convention on Crimes against Humanity (explainer blog 9 October 2024)
- International Justice Day and Days to Come: The Rome Statute of the ICC and a future Convention on Crimes against Humanity – Complementarity, not Competition (Research, 17 July 2024)
- General Recommendations to States for a Convention on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity (Research, 3 March 2023)
Header image: Indian peacekeepers stand guard at the Internally Displaced Persons Camp (IDPs) in Buleusa on July 16, 2016. Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images.
