Hindu Terrorism and India’s Response

• UN General Assembly approves a treaty governing the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity (CAH).

• CAH are grave international crimes governed by the International Criminal Court (ICC) under the Rome Statute.

• CAH include specific criminal acts like murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, torture, imprisonment, and rape.

• There’s a gap in accountability due to the ICC’s limited jurisdiction, focus on individual criminal responsibility, and lack of a dedicated treaty for CAH.

• A dedicated CAH treaty could hold states accountable for their failure to prevent CAH.

• India objects to the ICC’s jurisdiction over issues like the powers of the ICC prosecutor, UN Security Council role, and non-inclusion of ‘use of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction’ as war crimes.

• India advocates for the inclusion of ‘terrorism’ as an act amounting to CAH.

• India lacks domestic legislation prohibiting international crimes, and there’s little debate on the need for such laws.