Proposed Crimes Against Humanity Treaty

The process and the International Law Commission risk irrelevance if the well-supported Draft Articles do not progress to the next phase.

Such a convention could help dispel a culture of impunity by reaffirming the gravity of such atrocities and filling gaps left by the Rome Statute.

Such a law would strengthen the prospect of the US one day seriously considering ratification of a proposed treaty.

While it contains laudable provisions, it is silent on certain fundamental issues, and some clauses set out the lowest common denominator.

Such a legal framework could be transformative for so many who have been left out or on the margins of existing mechanisms, including women.

At times the baton was dropped; at other times, drafters successfully overcame the hurdles in the process, as with the ICC Statute.

The answer is to fully enact international criminal law at the national level and to provide for its maximum reach.

It is a matter of historical curiosity, and it's time for the UN to reunite genocide with its genus by concluding a parallel treaty.

A successful treaty will prompt States to adopt stronger national laws and cooperate with each other to stop atrocities.

Crimes against humanity is the only international crime not governed by its own treaty. It's time to formally recognize such heinous conduct.

Such a convention could dispel the notion that only genocide deserves international sanction and attention.