International Criminal Court humanity

Furthermore, extermination is an act that constitutes a crime against humanity in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. According to the Statute, extermination includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population. Therefore, as long as the other requirements are met, the obstruction of humanitarian assistance could amount to a crime against humanity. 

Furthermore, the responsibility of all is additionally confirmed by the establishment in 2002 of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals, without any distinction based on official capacity , for four categories of violent military action (genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression) [17]. All three of these features underlie the following discussion. 

The establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC) was confirmed in April 2002, following ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by a required 60 countries. The UK ratified the Rome Statute in October 2001 , becoming tiie 42nd state to do so. The ICC came into existence in July 2002 and enables prosecution of human rights abusers worldwide. 

International Criminal Court, Warrant of Arrest for Omar Hassan Ahmad A1 Bashir, Mar. 4, 2009. Available at www2.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc639078.pdf (accessed Apr. 7, 2012) (al-Bashir s arrest warrant accuses him of having committed various war crimes and crimes against humanity). 

Such enforcement would then occnr through third parties obtaining access should the affected authorities be unwilhng or unable to provide assistance themselves, as discussed in the following Section. Enforcement ex post facto through, for example, adjudication by human rights bodies, the International Court of Justice or International Criminal Conrt remains an option, but falls outside the scope of this Chapter. 

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