A United Nations (UN) committee took the first step on Friday to negotiate a treaty on crimes against humanity committed at any time and not just during conflict.
The committee that deals with legal affairs of the UN approved a resolution authorizing its members to hold sessions in April 2023 and April 2024 to discuss the statutes of this treaty, presented by the International Law Commission, a body of experts of the organization in the field of law.
Subsequently, it would be up to the legal committee to make a decision on whether to propose a treaty during the General Assembly session starting in September 2024.
The resolution launching the process now goes to the assembly of 193 member countries, where approval is all but assured before the end of the year.
Richard Dicker, legal advisor for the defense of Human Rights of the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), affirmed that, “with the rampant crimes that have translated into crimes against humanity, in recent months, in countries like Myanmar [antiga Birmânia]Ukraine and Ethiopia, the move towards negotiating a treaty to prevent these crimes is a positive, albeit late, step.”
Although there are international treaties that focus on the crimes of genocide, torture, ‘apartheid’ and enforced disappearance, HRW affirms that there is no specific international treaty for crimes against humanity.
Crimes against humanity have been defined by the International Criminal Court.
According to the Human Rights group, these are murders, rapes, torture, ‘apartheid’, deportations, persecutions and other crimes “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population based on government or organizational policies.”
The treaty proposal presented by the International Law Commission in 2019 would require all ratifying countries to include the definition of these acts in national legislation and take measures to prevent and punish those responsible for crimes against humanity, HRW concluded.
Source: Observadora
