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Smruthi
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CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Crimes against humanity are certain acts that are purposely committed as part of a widespread
or systematic policy, directed against civilians, in times of war or peace. They differ from war
crimes because they are not isolated acts committed by individual soldiers, but are acts
committed in furtherance of a state policy. The first prosecution for crimes against humanity took
place at the Nuremberg trials. Initially being considered for legal use, widely in International
Law, following the Holocaust a global standard of human rights was articulated in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights 1948. Political groups or states that violate or incite violation of
human rights norms, as found in the Declaration, are an expression of the political pathologies
associated with crimes against humanity.

Crimes against humanity have since been prosecuted by other international courts (for example,
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal
for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court) as well as in domestic prosecutions. The law
of crimes against humanity has primarily developed through the evolution of customary
international law. Crimes against humanity are not codified in an international convention,
although there is currently an international effort to establish such a treaty, led by the Crimes
Against Humanity Initiative.

Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during peace or war. They are
not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the
perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities
tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. War crimes, murder, massacres,
dehumanization, genocide, ethnic cleansing, deportations, unethical human experimentation,
extrajudicial punishments including summary executions, use of weapons of mass destruction,
state terrorism or state sponsoring of terrorism, death squads, kidnappings and forced
disappearances, use of child soldiers, unjust imprisonment, enslavement, torture, rape, political
repression, racial discrimination, religious persecution and other human rights abuses may
reach the threshold of crimes against humanity if they are part of a widespread or systematic
practice.

WAR CRIMES

A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the laws of war that gives rise to
individual criminal responsibility. Examples of crimes include intentionally killing civilians or
prisoners, torturing, destroying civilian property, taking hostages, performing a perfidy, raping,
using child soldiers, pillaging, declaring that no quarter will be given, and seriously violating the
principles of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity.
The concept of war crimes emerged at the turn of the twentieth century when the body of
customary international law applicable to warfare between sovereign states was codified. Such
codification occurred at the national level, such as with the publication of the Lieber Code in the
United States, and at the international level with the adoption of the treaties during the Hague
Conventions of 1899 and 1907. Moreover, trials in national courts during this period further
helped clarify the law. Following the end of World War II, major developments in the law
occurred. Numerous trials of Axis war criminals established the Nuremberg principles, such as
the notion that war crimes constituted crimes defined by international law. Additionally, the
Geneva Conventions in 1949 defined new war crimes and established that states could exercise
universal jurisdiction over such crimes. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, following
the creation of several international courts, additional categories of war crimes applicable to
armed conflicts other than those between states, such as civil wars, were defined.