Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a de facto authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the context of war, and apply to widespread practices rather than acts committed by individuals. Although crimes against humanity apply to acts committed by or on behalf of authorities, they need not be official policy, and require only tolerance rather than explicit approval. 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.
The crime of apartheid is defined by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime".
International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, agreements between sovereign states intended to have binding legal effect between the parties that have agreed to them; and customary international law. Other international human rights instruments, while not legally binding, contribute to the implementation, understanding and development of international human rights law and have been recognized as a source of political obligation.
David Michael Crane is an American lawyer who was the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) from April 2002 until July 15, 2005. During his tenure, he indicted, among others, the then-President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. Crane was replaced as chief prosecutor by his deputy Desmond de Silva. On April 26, 2012, the SCSL, sitting in The Hague, convicted Taylor on various charges. Crane served as Professor of Practice at Syracuse University College of Law from 2006 until 2018.
Theodor Meron, is an Israeli-American judge. He served as a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism). He served as President of the ICTY four times and inaugural President of the Mechanism for three terms (2012–19).
Lyal S. Sunga is a well-known specialist on international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law.
Juan E. Méndez is an Argentine lawyer, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and human rights activist known for his work on behalf of political prisoners.
Sir Nigel Simon Rodley KBE was an international lawyer and professor.
Nicolas Michel is a Swiss lawyer who serves as an Adjunct Professor of international law at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.
Francis Mading Deng is a politician and diplomat from South Sudan who served as the newly independent country's first ambassador to the United Nations from 2012 to July 2016.
Claes Cronstedt is an international lawyer and member of the Swedish Bar. He is one of the pioneers on Business and Human Rights.
The Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, until 2017 Istituto Superiore Internazionale di Scienze Criminali (ISISC) is a not-for-profit organisation located in Syracuse, Italy, that was established in 1972. The organisation specializes in the design and implementation of human rights, rule of law, justice and capacity building projects throughout the world. The organisation pays particular attention to such issues that arise from situations in Arab and Muslim countries.
Payam Akhavan is an Iranian-born lawyer. He is a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. He is a senior fellow at Massey College at the University of Toronto and is a visiting adjunct at the school's Faculty of Law. He is also a senior fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
John L. Washburn is the Convener for the American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the International Criminal Court (AMICC) and Co-Chair of the Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court (WICC). In addition, Washburn is an Adjunct Research Scholar for the International Criminal Court Program at the Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights.
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) is an experienced research and academic institution with offices, programmes, and convening power covering 40 countries. RWI's mission is to combine evidence-based human rights research with direct engagement with international organizations, governments, national human rights institutions, the justice sector, local and regional authorities, universities, and the business sector to bring about human rights change for all. This is done by having a network-based organization that works through strong partnerships with multiple actors and through that bring about a wider understanding of, and respect for, human rights and international humanitarian law.
Leila Nadya Sadat is the James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law at Washington University School of Law and the former Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute. She has served as Special Advisor on Crimes Against Humanity to Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of the International Criminal Court since December 12, 2012. Sadat is the Director of The Crimes Against Humanity Initiative, a multi-year project to study the problem of crimes against humanity and draft a comprehensive convention addressing their punishment and prevention. She has spearheaded the international effort to establish this new global convention. In 2012 Sadat was elected to membership in the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, and in 2018 was elected as the President of the American Branch of the International Law Association for a two-year term in October 2018.
The Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law, established in 2000 as the Institute for Global Legal Studies, serves as a center for instruction and research in international and comparative law.
The Crimes Against Humanity Initiative is a rule of law research and advocacy project of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute. Started in 2008 by Professor Leila Nadya Sadat, the Initiative has as its goals the study of the need for a comprehensive international convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity, the analysis of the necessary elements of such a convention, and the drafting of a proposed treaty. To date, the Initiative has held several experts' meetings and conferences, published a Proposed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, and resulted in the publication of an edited volume, Forging a Convention for Crimes Against Humanity, by Cambridge University Press. The draft treaty is now available in seven languages. The UN International Law Commission produced its own, similar, set of Draft Articles on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity, and a proposed treaty is now being debated by governments around the world.
The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR) is a Montreal-based non-governmental organization dedicated to pursuing justice through the protection and promotion of human rights. The RWCHR's name and mission is inspired by Raoul Wallenberg's humanitarian legacy.
Lennart Aspegren was a Swedish judge who served on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He was one of three judges who ruled that rape fell within the legal definition of genocide and crimes against humanity in the case The Prosecutor v. Jean-Paul Akayesu involving Jean-Paul Akayesu. Akeyesu was the first genocide trial in history: "Not even Eichmann in Israel, who was accused of having committed crimes against humanity, was charged with genocide". While serving on the Tribunal he worked with Navi Pillay who later became the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In 2011, Aspegren accepted a position with the UN Expert Committee for Gaza; together with American judge Mary Davis, Aspergen prepared a report colloquially called the "Davis/Aspegren Report". It was presented by the UN Human Rights Council’s Committee in 2011; the United States and Israel voted against it.
