General Assembly Distr.: General 18 February 2019
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United Nations A/CN.4/725 General Assembly Distr.: General 18 February 2019 Original: English International Law Commission Seventy-first Session Geneva, 29 April–7 June and 8 July–9 August 2019 Fourth report on crimes against humanity By Sean D. Murphy, Special Rapporteur* Contents Page Introduction ................................................................... 4 A. Work to date on this topic .................................................... 4 B. Purpose and structure of the present report ...................................... 6 Chapter I Comments and observations on the draft articles, as adopted on first reading ......... 7 A. General comments and observations ........................................... 7 1. Commission’s methodology in drafting the articles .......................... 7 2. Consistency with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court .......... 8 3. Desirability of a convention on crimes against humanity ...................... 9 B. Draft preamble ............................................................ 13 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 13 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 17 C. Draft article 1 [1]: Scope .................................................... 17 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 17 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 19 * The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank Joanna Buckley, Mohamed Helal, Tara Ippoliti, Hayden Pendergrass, Darryl Robinson and Alexandra Utech for their invaluable assistance in the preparation of the present report, as well as the participants in the workshops hosted in: March 2018 in London by Matrix Chambers; September 2018 in Lima by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute (Washington University) and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court; October 2018 in Cambridge by the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law; and January 2019 in Boston by Harvard Law School. 19-02531 (E) 160419 *1902531* A/CN.4/725 D. Draft article 2 [2]: General obligation .......................................... 19 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 19 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 21 E. Draft article 3 [3]: Definition of crimes against humanity ......................... 22 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 23 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 38 F. Draft article 4 [4]: Obligation of prevention ..................................... 44 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 44 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 48 G. Draft article 5: Non-refoulement .............................................. 49 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 50 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 52 H. Draft article 6 [5]: Criminalization under national law ............................ 52 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 53 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 66 I. Draft article 7 [6]: Establishment of national jurisdiction .......................... 67 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 68 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 72 J. Draft article 8 [7]: Investigation .............................................. 72 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 72 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 74 K. Draft article 9 [8]: Preliminary measures when an alleged offender is present ......... 74 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 74 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 78 L. Draft article 10 [9]: Aut dedere aut judicare .................................... 78 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 78 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 81 M. Draft article 11 [10]: Fair treatment of the alleged offender ........................ 82 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 82 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 85 N. Draft article 12: Victims, witnesses and others ................................... 85 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 86 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 91 O. Draft article 13: Extradition .................................................. 91 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 92 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 98 2/139 19-02531 A/CN.4/725 P. Draft article 14: Mutual legal assistance ........................................ 99 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 101 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 106 Q. Draft article 15: Settlement of disputes ......................................... 106 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 107 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 109 R. Annex .................................................................... 109 1. Comments and observations ............................................. 113 2. Recommendation of the Special Rapporteur ................................ 115 Chapter II Possible additional draft articles ................................................. 115 1. Transfer of sentenced persons ............................................ 115 2. Relationship to international criminal tribunals .............................. 116 3. Amnesties ............................................................ 117 4. Institutional mechanism ................................................. 118 5. Application of draft articles to all parts of territory ........................... 120 6. Reservations .......................................................... 120 Chapter III Separate initiative for a convention addressing crimes against humanity, genocide and war crime ....................................................................... 121 1. Explanation of the initiative ............................................. 121 2. Relationship of the initiative to the draft articles ............................. 123 Chapter IV Final form of the draft articles and recommendation to the General Assembly ............ 125 Annex Draft articles adopted by the Commission on first reading in 2017, with the Special Rapporteur’s recommended changes .............................................. 127 19-02531 3/139 A/CN.4/725 Introduction A. Work to date on this topic 1. At its sixty-sixth session in 2014, the International Law Commission placed the topic “Crimes against humanity” on its current programme of work and appointed a Special Rapporteur.1 The General Assembly subsequently took note of the decision of the Commission.2 2. At its sixty-seventh session in 2015, the Commission held a general debate concerning the Special Rapporteur’s first report3 and provisionally adopted four draft articles with commentaries.4 At its sixty-eighth session in 2016, the Commission held a general debate on the Special Rapporteur’s second report5 and provisionally adopted six additional draft articles with commentaries. 6 3. At its sixty-ninth session in 2017, the Commission considered a memorandum by the Secretariat providing information on existing treaty-based monitoring mechanisms that may be of relevance to the Commission’s work. 7 Further, the Commission held a general debate on the Special Rapporteur’s third report 8 and adopted, on first reading, a complete set of draft articles on crimes against humanity, comprised of a draft preamble, fifteen draft articles and a draft annex, with commentaries.9 The Commission decided to transmit the draft articles through the Secretary-General to States, international organizations and others for comments and observations, with the request that they be submitted to the Secretary-General by 1 December 2018.10 4. During the debate on the annual report of the Commission in the Sixth Committee in 2017, 52 States (including presentations on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and on behalf of the Nordic countries) made observations on this topic.11 Observations were also made by the Council of Europe. During the __________________ 1 See the report of the Commission on the work of its sixty-sixth session, Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-ninth session, Supplement No. 10 (A/69/10), para. 266. 2 General Assembly resolution 69/118 of 10 December 2014, para. 7. 3 First report of the Special Rapporteur on crimes against humanity (A/CN.4/680 and Corr.1). 4 See the report of the Commission on the work of its sixty-seventh session, Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventieth session, Supplement No. 10 (A/70/10), paras. 110–117. 5 Second report of the Special Rapporteur on crimes against humanity (A/CN.4/690). 6 See the