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crime against humanity
noun phrase
: atrocity (such as extermination or enslavement) that is directed especially against an entire population or part of a population on specious grounds and without regard to individual guilt or responsibility even on such grounds
Examples of crime against humanity in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The killing of thousands of suspects during the crackdown is being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.
—Jim Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 4 Dec. 2024
Human Rights Watch has called their expulsion a crime against humanity.
—Lorraine Mallinder, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Nov. 2024
The persecution of women and girls constitutes a crime against humanity—one of the most serious categories of crimes, along with genocide and war crimes.
—Binaifer Nowrojee, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024
These crimes included persecution on the grounds of gender — a crime against humanity — which intersected with discrimination on the basis of ethnicity and religion, the report said.
—Victoria Bisset, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024
For Israelis, this same date will be that of a heinous Palestinian crime against humanity that summoned from the collective Jewish subconscious images of Jew-slaughter through the ages, culminating in the Holocaust.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2024
Rights groups and some international law experts have accused Israel of committing apartheid, a crime against humanity under international law.
—Frances Vinall, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2024
In 1993, the International Criminal Court reaffirmed apartheid as a crime against humanity and established the possibility of individuals being held responsible.
—Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2024
My uncle Omar’s family in Gaza City have made the difficult decision to remain in their home, despite Israeli orders for Palestinians in that part of the Strip to leave (where to, no one knows), a move that U.N. experts consider to be a crime against humanity.
—Laila El-Haddad, The New Republic, 1 Nov. 2023
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Word History
First Known Use
1878, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of crime against humanity was
in 1878
Dictionary Entries Near crime against humanity
Cite this Entry
“Crime against humanity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crime%20against%20humanity. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Legal Definition
crime against humanity
crime against hu·man·i·ty
: an inhumane act (as enslavement) committed against civilians before or during a war for which criminal liability is imposed by a domestic or international tribunal see also war crime
More from Merriam-Webster on crime against humanity
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about crime against humanity
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