crime against humanity, as defined in international law, are crimes committed as part of a systematic attack by a person or of a group against a civilian population, attacking the life and dignity of these people, causing them suffering purposeful.
Currently, the international document recognized as the basis for combating crimes against humanity is the Rome Statute. This document was the basis for the creation of the criminal court International, a court that judges crimes against humanity, based in the Netherlands. Here in Brazil, one of the periods marked by crimes against humanity was the Military dictatorship.
Read too: Apartheid — political regime that promoted violent racial segregation in South Africa
Topics of this article
- 1 - Summary of crimes against humanity
- 2 - Concept of crime against humanity
- 3 - What are the crimes against humanity?
- 4 - Crimes against humanity committed in Brazil
Crime against humanity summary
Crimes against humanity are criminal actions that attack the life and dignity of the civilian population.
Currently, the document that establishes a basic definition for this matter is the Rome Statute.
The Rome Statute was the basis for the creation of the International Criminal Court, a court that tries crimes against humanity.
Crimes against humanity include murder, extermination, torture, slavery, apartheid, sexual violence, among others.
One of the periods of Brazilian history marked by countless crimes against humanity was the Military Dictatorship.
Concept of crime against humanity
In international law, crimes against humanity are all actions that form part of a attack against a civilian group, causing great suffering or the indiscriminate killing of people. This concept was established shortly after the Second World War, as a consequence of the holocaust, but only took shape in international law at the end of the 20th century.
After World War II, the genocide It is crimes against humanity committed by nazis were judged at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. In this case, the judgment of crimes against humanity took place in a context of war, but the international community understood that crimes against humanity could also occur outside an armed conflict..
It took a few decades for a document of international scope to be formulated on the issue. ANDissued in 1998, It isthis document éknown as the Rome Statute. The statute was responsible for the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), also known as the Hague Court, headquartered in the Netherlands.
It is the responsibility of this court to investigate and prosecute potential crimes against humanity that are reported by members of the countries who are signatories to the Rome Statute. Including, O Brazil is one of the countries that signedplow and ratifyplow the Rome Statute, being able to appoint judges to act in this court, in addition to being able to send citizens to be tried for crimes against humanity.
Do not stop now... There's more after the publicity ;)
What are crimes against humanity?
According to the Rome Statute, crimes against humanity are defined as|1|:
murder;
extermination;
slavery;
deportation or forced transfer of populations;
imprisonment or other serious deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental norms of international law;
torture;
rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, pregnancy forced, forced sterilization or other sexual abuse of comparable severity;
persecution of a group or collectivity with its own identity, based on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender or other reasons universally recognized as unacceptable under the law International;
enforced disappearance of persons;
the crime of “apartheid”;
other inhumane acts of a similar character that intentionally cause great suffering or seriously endanger physical integrity or mental or physical health.
Any of the above crimes committed by agents of the State or by individuals acting independently constitutes a crime against humanity. The International Criminal Court is responsible per judge these crimes. ICC investigations are initiated through complaints made by the UN, by ICC prosecutors or by a Member State report.
See too:How does slave labor occur today?
Crimes against humanity committed in Brazil
Using the Rome Statute as a basis and looking at the history of Brazil retrospectively, we can say that countless crimes against humanity have already occurred in Brazil. One of the periods in Brazil's recent history that was marked by several violations of human rights and, consequently, by crimes against humanity was O military dictatorship period.
During that time, summary executions, disappearance of corpses, torture, illegal imprisonment, treatments inhuman and degrading conditions, mass arrests, sexual violence, gender violence, violence against children, among others actions. The State agents who carried out these crimes were not held accountable for their misdeeds by causa of the Law of Amnesty.
In 1993, another case gained notoriety, when the Federal Government became aware of a large massacre of indigenous people that was carried out by illegal miners. This massacre took place in the state of roraima, in a land inhabited by the Yanomami. The garimpeiros murdered 16 indigenous people and were convicted of the crime of genocide, as it was understood that there was an attempt to exterminate ethnic groups. This event was named the Haximu Massacre.
In 2023, aserious humanitarian crisis in the inhabited earth by the Yanomami, in Roraima. It was revealed that there were a large number of seriously ill indigenous people with symptoms of severe malnutrition. This situation came about through the advancement of illegal mining, which deprived the indigenous people of adequate access to health care and prevented them from having quality food.
It is estimated that between 2019 and 2022, around 570 Yanomami havem died due to this situation. In addition, complaints point out that the Federal Government, during the management of Jair Bolsonaro, may have overlooked the plight of the Yanomami. Another complaint pointed out that a Yanomami entity sent 21 requests for help Governo Federal what were ignored.
Other events in Brazilian history that can be classified as crimes against humanity are the slaveryto the, massacres committed by police, among others.
Know more: Massacre do Carandiru — police action that left 111 detainees dead in São Paulo
→ Bill on crimes against humanity in Brazil
There is a bill in Brazil, known as PL 4038/2008, which defineIt is what and what are the crimes against humanity in the country. This project was presented on September 23, 2008, being authored by Executive power, but at the beginning of 2023 it was still being processed by the National Congress.
This project defines that crimes against humanity in Brazil are those committed in the context of a generalized or systematic attack against the civilian population. However, it is worth mentioning that ifdeals with a project of law, therefore your determination is not in effect. He only proposes the creation of a law that characterizes, typifies and punishes crimes against humanity.
If PL 4038/2008 is approved, to beto the considered crimes against humanity in Brazil:
murder;
extermination;
slavery;
human trafficking;
deportation or forced displacement through violence;
deprivation of liberty;
torture;
degrading or inhuman treatment;
sexual assault;
obscene act;
sexual slavery;
forced prostitution;
forced pregnancy;
forced sterilization;
deprivation of fundamental rights;
enforced disappearance;
racial segregation;
bodily injury;
association for the commission of crimes against humanity.
Grades
|1| Rome Statute. To access, click here.
image credits
[1] Procyk Radek It is Shutterstock
[2]commons
By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher
