DIFFERENCES

Crimes against humanity

Criminal conduct such as murder, extermination, enslavement, imprisonment,
torture, sexual violence, any other inhumane act or persecution that is
committed against any civilian population or any identifiable group whether or
not the state is at war, and regardless of whether the act or omission is a
violation of the territorial law in force at the time. The acts or omissions may
have been committed by state officials or private individuals, and against their
own nationals or nationals of other states.

War crimes
Acts or omissions committed during an armed conflict (war between states and
civil war) which violate the rules of law as defined by international law. These
acts or omissions include the ill-treatment of civilians within occupied territories,
the violation and exploitation of individuals and private property, and the torture
and execution of prisoners.
Isolated reprehensible acts do not amount to crimes against humanity, while even
one atrocity can result in the commission of a war crime. This does not mean that a
single act can never be a crime against humanity, but it has to be shown that this one
act was the result of the implementation of widespread or systematic policy. ENF 18 War
crimes and crimes against humanity
2005-12-15 7
War crimes, even those committed in a civil war, can only occur when a certain
threshold of intensity is reached between the two parties in the conflict. For example,
police officers conducting themselves in a violent manner during riots does not
constitute a war crime but could be a crime against humanity.
Crimes against humanity can occur in any setting, i.e., during international war, civil
war, and in times of peace. This would mean that a particular atrocity, e.g., the killing
of a civilian during a civil war, could be both a war crime and a crime against
humanity.
While some types of atrocities can be both war crimes and crimes against humanity,
other acts will fall under one category only, regardless of whether they were
committed in times of war or peace. For example, destruction of certain types of
property can be a war crime but can never be a crime against humanity, while
persecution is a crime against humanity but not a war crime.
In the application of A35(1)(a), the numbers of persons who have committed war
crimes is relatively low. The majority of cases described in A35(1)(a) involve crimes
against humanity.




War Crimes vs Crimes against Humanity
War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity are both crimes against people in hostile
situations, may it be intra-states or interstates. Nobody likes the thought of war, but the sad
thing is war is a reality. Glaring examples are the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan
and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As with wars, there will always be casualties and it can
never be avoided. There is also the possibility of abuse during times of war, and in the past,
these abuses are sometimes left unnoticed. These acts of violence are more commonly
referred to as war crimes. Other transgressions in conflicts that cause large-scale casualties,
genocide for example, are still considered as war crimes, but they are aptly called crimes
against humanity.
War Crimes
War crimes are defined as grave violations of the customary and treaty law with regards to
international humanitarian law that are now considered as criminal offenses for which there is
individual responsibility. It can also be defined as the breach of established protocols and
agreements and the non-adherence to the norms of procedure and rules of battle.
Mistreatment of POWs and civilians are examples of what is considered as war crimes. The
first formal statements concerning war crimes were established during the Hague and Geneva
Conventions but the earliest international tribunal concerning war crimes was held in the
Holy Roman Empire in 1474. The definition of war crimes was further enhanced with the
London Charter at the end of the Second World War, and this charter was used in the
Nuremberg Trials. The London Charter also went on to establish the meaning of crimes
against humanity, which was often committed during times of war.
Crimes against Humanity
Crimes against humanity are defined as any particularly horrible act that is part of a grave
attack on human dignity or severe humiliation or degradation of one or more human beings.
What is worthwhile to know is that these offenses are not isolated or sporadic, but is part of a
government policy or that the government condones or ignores its occurrences. The
persecution of humans based on their culture, race, religion or political beliefs also
constitutes crime against humanity. A good example of it is the Holocaust. Isolated inhumane
offenses of this nature may be categorized as violations against human rights or can be
considered, depending on the situation, as war crimes, but may not exactly be considered as
crimes against humanity.
Difference between War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity
Although these terms refer to acts that are made during times of conflict, the term war
crimes is a much broader term. Crimes against humanity refer to acts, before or during the
war, that target a specific group of people, be it for their race, religion or political orientation
that is condoned or even promoted by the government. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan
and the regimes in Sudan, Congo and Sri Lanka are some examples of a government that
condones or promotes these actions. War crimes, on the other hand, is basically any act that
violates treaties of war or any act that does not follow normal procedures or protocols. The
shooting of a surrendering enemy or the killings of civilians are examples of war crimes.
There was no clear accountability for war crimes and crimes of humanity before the
Nuremberg trials and as such, there was a need to clearly define the terms and set up the
necessary rules to follow in times of warm thus the creation of the London Charter of the
International Military Tribunal.
In brief:
1. War crimes and crimes against humanity are terms referring to inhumane acts
done during times of conflict.
2. War crimes and crimes against humanity are condemned by the international
community and grave consequences are sanctioned by the United Nations to any
country, or organization, which participates in these acts.
3. War crimes, however, is a broader term compared to crimes against humanity.
Crimes against humanity refer to acts of violence targeting a particular group for
their race, religion or political orientation. War crimes can be any act of violence
that may or may not fall in that particular definition.
4. Crimes against humanity must also be either a part of government policy or is
being condoned or promoted by the government. War crimes, on the other hand, do
not need to be condoned by the perpetrators government. As such crimes against
humanity are usually attributed to the government or country as a whole, while war
crimes can be attributed to a specific person.
5. The definition of crimes against humanity includes the period before the war.
Germany in World War II, for example, committed crimes against humanity before
the global outbreak of World War II in their acts of violence against the Jewish
people. War crimes, by definition, only include acts done within the period of the
war.


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