What distinguishes ordinary crimes from crimes against humanity?
The Statute distinguishes ordinary crimes from crimes against humanity over which the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction in three ways. First, the acts which constitute crimes, such as murder, must have been ”committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack”. However, the word ”attack” here does not mean a military attack and can include laws and administrative measures such as deportation and forced displacement. Second, they must bedirected against a civilian population.”Single, isolated, dispersed or random acts that do not rise to the level of crimes against humanity, cannot be prosecuted as such. The presence of a few soldiers among the civilian population is not sufficient to deprive it of its civilian character. Third, they must have been committed pursuant to ”a State or organizational policy”. Thus, they can be committed by state agents or by persons acting at their instigation or with their consent or acquiescence, such as death squads. Crimes ag
