Claiming Human Rights

Protected Main Rights

The Court can exercise its jurisdiction with respect to crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Genocide is generally characterized by the intention to destroy in whole or in part a national ethnical, racial or religious group (for a full definition see Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court).

A crime against humanity means one of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population and with the knowledge of the attack:

1. Murder;
2. Extermination;
3. Enslavement;
4. Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
5. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
6. Torture;
7. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
8. Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious or gender;
9. Enforced disappearance of persons;
10. The crime of apartheid;
11. Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

(For a complete definition of the crimes of humanity see Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court).

Finally, war crimes mean grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and every other serious violation of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflicts, within the established framework of international law. (For a complete definition of war crimes see Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court).