Holy See: Strengthened measures against crimes against humanity required
The Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, advocates for more effective international measures against crimes against humanity, emphasizing the importance of human dignity and prevention efforts.
By Francesca Merlo
Addressing the Sixth Committee, a resumed session of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, reiterated the urgent need for strong action against crimes against humanity.
The Permanent Observer emphasized that crimes against humanity have long been recognized as international crimes within customary international law.
Archbishop Caccia stressed that “the International Law Commission (ILC) has rightly declared that the prohibition of these crimes is indeed a peremptory norm of international law.”
International cooperation to prevent and punish
He further stressed the need for a “universal, multilateral and legally binding instrument, codifying existing customary law in this area”, which he said would promote international cooperation in the prevention and repression of these “heinous acts”. .
In his speech, Archbishop Caccia recalled the words of Pope Francis, affirming that “the dignity of others must be respected in all circumstances”.
He underlined the essential role of human dignity, the foundation of all human rights, in the fight against crimes against humanity.
Strengthen efficiency
Moving on to the draft instrument, Bishop Caccia proposed amendments to strengthen its effectiveness.
“Even though the dual objective of the new instrument is to prevent and punish crimes against humanity, the draft does not contain an explicit reference to the first objective,” he noted, before suggesting including a reference to human dignity in the ninth preambular paragraph. Such an addition, he said, would provide a more robust interpretative framework for the draft articles.
Furthermore, he called for explicit recognition of the prevention imperative in the preamble. “Given that the prohibition of crimes against humanity is a peremptory norm, the definition of these acts must also be deeply rooted in customary international law. Therefore, in defining these crimes against humanity, the text must not not deviate from existing customary norms”, underlined the Archbishop. Caccia.
Closing his intervention, the Permanent Observer stressed that sovereign interests could never justify crimes against humanity, and welcomed the inclusion of jus cogens in the fourth preambular paragraph of the draft articles, emphasizing the importance of this reference.
