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 persecution of women and girls constitutes a crime against humanity—one of the most serious categories of crimes, along with genocide and war crimes.
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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
Well, the Hamas attack is clearly a crime against humanity, meaning a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population.
—Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023
What Hamas has done is a crime against humanity in the deepest sense of the term.
—TIME, 16 Oct. 2023
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
Well, the Hamas attack is clearly a crime against humanity, meaning a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population.
—Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023
What Hamas has done is a crime against humanity in the deepest sense of the term.
—TIME, 16 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crime against humanity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Crime against humanity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crime%20against%20humanity. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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