Global powers delay crucial treaty while crimes against humanity continue worldwide
A new international treaty could help stop mass-crimes worldwide‚ but some countries block its progress. The agreement would make states responsible for preventing and punishing severe human-rights violations
Around the globe mass-crimes keep happening without proper justice: China locks up Uyghurs Syriaʼs regime kills prisoners and Russia moves Ukrainian civilians by force. Non-state groups like ISIS did awful things to Yazidis about 7 years ago including killings torture and rape
The world needs better tools to stop these crimes but theres a big problem — no single treaty covers them all. These mass-crimes happen when someone attacks lots of regular people on purpose: they kill move people by force lock them up without reason or do other terrible stuff (like what Taliban does to women in Afghanistan)
A new treaty could fix this: it would make countries stop these crimes and work together to catch bad guys. About 90 countries including the United States want to start talks but some like China and Russia try to block it. The treaty would work with existing rules — like the one signed in Ljubljana-The Hague last year that helps countries work together on catching criminals
- Countries would need to make laws against these crimes
- Theyʼd have to help each other find evidence
- Anyone who did these crimes could be caught anywhere
- It would add new rules about crimes against women
The treaty isnt perfect but it would help local courts do more work: instead of waiting for big international courts that are slow and picky. Some countries say we dont need it because we have the International Criminal Court; but thats not enough — this new agreement would do much more to stop crimes before they happen
