What Are Crimes Against Humanity?
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.
In sum, crimes against humanity may occur -when any of the – acts listed above are intentionally committed regardless of whether they are committed in peacetime or wartime,as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population. These crimes result from individual criminal conduct. This means that individuals can be investigated and prosecuted, and found personally responsible for these crimes.
It is our duty to humanity that the perpetrators of these crimes not go unpunished. An important purpose of our organisation is to bring the perpetrators of these crimes before judicial authorities, with an effort in line with the tenet of “rights are not given, they are taken”, and the compensation of all material and moral damages to the victims.
Canada provides a unique opportunity for us to operate domestic mechanisms such as “ “Initiation of criminal prosecution” and “Pursuing Civil Lawsuits and Sanctions” against officials responsible for (or complicit in) gross human rights violations.
Indeed, on June 29, 2000, Canada passed the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, becoming the first country in the world to adopt comprehensive legislation1 implementing the Rome Statute2. Though there are some complexities involved regarding investigating these crimes in Canada, we believe it is possible to utilize these laws to combat impunity and to prosecute perpetrators of these crimes against humanity.
Further, we intend to utilize international mechanisms in our pursuit of justice. The United Nations has been responsible for the prosecution of crimes against humanity since it was chartered in 19483.
Based on the official website of the United Nations4, “the 1998 Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) is the document that reflects the latest consensus among the international community on this matter. It is also the treaty that offers the most extensive list of specific acts that may constitute the crime. According to Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
In conclusion, we specifically focus on two basic activities in Canada:
1. “Initiation of Criminal Prosecution”
2. “Pursuing Civil Lawsuits and Sanctions” against officials
1 https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-45.9/fulltext.html
2 https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/icc-cpi/i ndex.aspx?lang=eng
3 “A/RES/260(III) – E – A/RES/260(III)”. undocs.org. Retrieved 2019-08-28.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity)
4 https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/crimes-against-humanity.shtml
