Crime of apartheid
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- This article is about the crime of apartheid as defined by a convention and a treaty promulgated by the United Nations. For the system of racial segregation which formerly existed in the Union of South Africa, later known as the Republic of South Africa, see History of South Africa in the apartheid era. For other uses, see Apartheid (disambiguation).
The "crime of apartheid" is defined by the 2002 treaty establishing the International Criminal Court as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalised 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." It lists such crimes as murder, enslavement, deprivation of physical liberty, forced relocation, sexual violence, and collective persecution.<ref name=rome>United Nations (2002). Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 2, Chapter 5. Retrieved on 9 October, 2006.</ref>
In 1973, the General Assembly of the United Nations opened for signature and ratification the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA)<ref name="ICSPCA">United Nations (30 November). International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. Retrieved on 8 October, 2006.</ref> It defined the crime of apartheid as "inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them." It mentions racially based acts such as murder, infringement on freedom or dignity, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, imposition of inhumane living conditions, forced labor, or enacting measures calculated to prevent a racial group from "participation in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country" such as denying them "basic human rights and freedoms, including the right to work, the right to form recognised trade unions, the right to education, the right to leave and to return to their country, the right to a nationality, the right to freedom of movement and residence, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association."
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[edit] History
The term apartheid, of Afrikaans origin, means literally "apartness". The term rose to prominence as the official name of the South African system of racial segregation. Dismay over this system was brought to the attention of the United Nations as early as 12 July 1948 by Dr. Padmanabha Pillai, the representative of India to the United Nations, who expressed concerns in a letter<ref>Pillai, Padmanabha (12 July). Letter from the representative of India to the Secretary-General concerning the treatment of Indians in South Africa. Retrieved on 17 July, 2006.</ref> to his colleagues over treatment of ethnic Indians within the Union of South Africa. As its scope became more widely known, South African apartheid was condemned internationally as unjust and racist. Within the international community, there was a recognition that a formal legal framework was needed in order to apply international pressure on the South African government to promote a positive change in its policies.
[edit] International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid
In 1973, the General Assembly of the United Nations agreed on the text of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA)<ref name="ICSPCA"/>. The Convention was phrased in general terms, instead of referring specifically to the situation in South Africa, with the express intention of prohibiting any other state from adopting analogous policies. The Convention came into force in 1976.
The main sponsors were the Soviet Union and Guinea, and the convention came into operation after twenty countries, all members of the Soviet bloc, ratified it. Approximately seventy countries subsequently signed on. However, all the major Western countries refused to ratify it. At the outset the US stated: "We cannot accept that apartheid can be made a crime against humanity. Crimes against humanity are so grave in nature that they must be meticulously elaborated and strictly constructed under international law."
[edit] ICSPCA Definition
Article II of the ICSPCA defines the crime of apartheid as follows<ref name="ICSPCA"/>:
- "For the purpose of the present Convention, the term 'the crime of apartheid', which shall include similar policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination as practised in southern Africa, shall apply to the following inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them:
- (a) Denial to a member or members of a racial group or groups of the right to life and liberty of person
- (i) By murder of members of a racial group or groups;
- (ii) By the infliction upon the members of a racial group or groups of serious bodily or mental harm, by the infringement of their freedom or dignity, or by subjecting them to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
- (iii) By arbitrary arrest and illegal imprisonment of the members of a racial group or groups;
- (b) Deliberate imposition on a racial group or groups of living conditions calculated to cause its or their physical destruction in whole or in part;
- (c) Any legislative measures and other measures calculated to prevent a racial group or groups from participation in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country and the deliberate creation of conditions preventing the full development of such a group or groups, in particular by denying to members of a racial group or groups basic human rights and freedoms, including the right to work, the right to form recognised trade unions, the right to education, the right to leave and to return to their country, the right to a nationality, the right to freedom of movement and residence, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
- (d) Any measures including legislative measures, designed to divide the population along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups, the prohibition of mixed marriages among members of various racial groups, the expropriation of landed property belonging to a racial group or groups or to members thereof;
- (e) Exploitation of the labour of the members of a racial group or groups, in particular by submitting them to forced labour;
- (f) Persecution of organisations and persons, by depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms, because they oppose apartheid."
- (a) Denial to a member or members of a racial group or groups of the right to life and liberty of person
[edit] International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court came into effect on 2002-04-11. As of 2006-08-31, the court has been ratified by 102 countries, and the court treaty has been signed but not ratified by an additional 41 countries. However, the 49 remaining countries (of the 192 United Nations member states) who have not signed or have unsigned this court treaty do not have any obligations from the treaty and this includes six out of the ten most populous nations - China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Japan.
The Rome Statute defines the laws subject to International Criminal Court jurisdiction and explicitly lists in Article 7 the "crime of apartheid" as one of eleven recognized crimes against humanity. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, "[t]he Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which entered into force in 2002, also provides for individual international criminal responsibility."<ref>Britannica: Nonstate actors in international law, accessed June 12, 2006</ref>
[edit] ICC Definition
The ICC defines the crime of apartheid as part of Article 7:
- "Article 7: Crimes against humanity
- 1. For the purpose of this Statute, 'crime against humanity' means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
- (a) Murder;
- (b) Extermination;
- (c) Enslavement;
- (d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
- (e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
- (f) Torture;
- (g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
- (h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
- (i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
- (j) The crime of apartheid;
- (k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
- 2. For the purpose of paragraph 1:
- [...]
- (h) The 'crime of apartheid' means inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to in paragraph 1, committed in the context of an institutionalised 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".<ref name=rome/></blockquote>
- 1. For the purpose of this Statute, 'crime against humanity' means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
[edit] See also
- Crime against humanity
- Racial segregation
- History of South Africa in the apartheid era
- Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
[edit] References
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