Key Points

“We emphasise that any definition of crimes against humanity must explicitly capture the heinous crimes and atrocities perpetrated by terrorists and their sponsors”, BJP MP S. Phangnon Konyak told the General Assembly’s Legal Committee on Monday.

“Justice and accountability demand that such acts are not overlooked”, she said during the committee’s discussion on crimes against humanity.

While stressing that it was important for the proposed international convention to prevent and punish crimes against humanity to include terrorism, Konyak also expressed some reservations about some aspects of it.

She said that any treaty should consider “the diversity of legal systems and unequivocally respect national sovereignty”.

Nations have “the primary responsibility and obligation to ensure justice and accountability for the most egregious violations of human rights and mass atrocities committed either in their territory or by their nationals”, she said.

Any convention should also be “consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and the universally recognised principles of international law”, she said.

Without these it would cause “fragmentation and conflict with existing legal norms.”

The draft was created by the International Law Commission and the General Assembly last year called for international meetings in 2028 and 2029 to negotiate a treaty on crimes against humanity.

Konyak, who represents Nagaland in the Rajya Sabha, said that the draft is inspired by the Rome Statute that set up the International Criminal Court and pointed out that India and several countries, including permanent members of the Security Council have strong reservations and are not parties to it.

Moreover, she said many countries have raised serious concerns about the politicisation of the International Criminal Court.

- IANS