What are atrocity crimes?


According to the United Nations Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes, the term ‘atrocity crimes’ refers to three legally defined international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In 2005, United Nations Member States made a commitment to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, a principle referred to as the “Responsibility to Protect”. 

The term “atrocity crimes” has since been extended to include ethnic cleansing. While not defined as an independent crime under international law, ethnic cleaning involves serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law that may themselves amount to one of the three recognized atrocity crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.

Atrocity crimes are considered to be the most serious crimes against humankind. Their status as international crimes is based on the belief that these acts affect the core dignity of human beings.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Call for input: online hate speech.

Image
Millions of human beings continue to be the victims of varied forms of racism, racial discrimination, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and related intolerance. The Special Rapporteur is gathering contributions from Member States, and other relevant stakeholders, to prepare her report to the 78th session of the General Assembly on the topic of online hate speech .
Read more

Hate Speech and Artificial Intelligence nexus: Building coalitions to reclaim inclusive and safe spaces free of hatred (Part 2).

Image
Event on the occasion of the International day of Countering Hate Speech entitled "Hate Speech and Artificial Intelligence nexus: Building coalitions to reclaim inclusive and safe spaces free of hatred". The event will figure experts and practitioners in the field of coalition-building on countering hate speech who will present lessons learned and best practices. It will include speakers from the United Nations, tech and social media companies, community-based organizations and academia. This year will mark the 4th International Day for Countering Hate Speech . To mark it, the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco, jointly with the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, the Human Rights Center of the University of Essex and the Garden or the Righteous Worldwide, is organizing a High-Level Event. Related Documents:  Concept Note Watch (Part 2) International Day for Countering Hate Speech 2025: Hate Speech and Artificial Intellig...
Read more