Rights Group Wants Suicide Bombing Classified as Crime Against Humanity

The advertisements read, “SUICIDE TERROR: What more will it take for the world to act?” Below that banner was a picture of Benazir Bhutto, assassinated on Dec. 27, 2007, by a gunman assisted by a suicide bomber.

The full-page ad requests that “the United Nations General Assembly hold a special session to deal exclusively with the scourge of suicide terror” and that “suicide bombings should be designated Crimes Against Humanity.”

The same suggestion was made in October 2002 by Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization. The organization’s argument was put forward in a report titled “Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians.”

The executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth wrote, "The scale and systematic nature of these attacks sets them apart from other abuses committed in times of conflict. They clearly fall under the category of crimes against humanity."

During an interview with Al-Jazeera on Jan. 4, 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon echoed that opinion.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international human rights organization named after a Holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to bringing war criminals to justice. The center describes its goals as follows: “confronting antisemitism, hate and terrorism … standing with Israel, defending the safety of Jews worldwide, and teaching the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations.”