Prevention of Crimes Against Humanity

Abstract

Like the Genocide Convention, the draft articles on crimes against humanity are not confined to issues of punishment. They also, in the preamble and especially in Article 4, impose an obligation of prevention. It is informed principally by the 2007 judgment of the International Court of Justice as well as the case law of international human rights tribunals. The obligation has an internal dimension, by which states must prevent crimes against humanity within their own jurisdiction. But it also has an external dimension that mandates international cooperation and even intervention which must necessarily be compatible with the Charter of the United Nations. The draft articles are not as robust as the Genocide Convention with respect to the inchoate crimes of incitement and conspiracy. The obligation of non-refoulement is also a dimension of the preventative role of the draft articles.