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A/HRC/21/50 48 V. International criminal law 14. International criminal law provides the means of enforcement at the international level of penalties for grave violations of customary law, IHRL and serious violations of IHL which are recognized as attracting individual liability. As noted, the ICC tries persons accused of such crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, aggression and war crimes.13 The Rome Statute had been joined by 121 countries as of July 2012.14 Although the Syrian Arab Republic has signed the text, it has not yet become a party. Pursuant to its Article 13 (b), the Security Council can refer the situation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the ICC Prosecutor for investigation. At the time of writing, no such referral has been made. 15. War crimes: A complete listing of which actions constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute is contained within its Article 8. In the context of non-international armed conflict, this comprises serious violations of Common Article 3 and Protocol II, as well as other serious violations of international law. 16. Crimes against humanity: Crimes against humanity are those crimes which ―shock the conscience of humanity‖. Under the Rome Statute, crimes against humanity occur where certain acts are undertaken as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population where the perpetrator has knowledge of the attack.15 The elements of crimes against humanity are well established in international criminal law:16 1. There must be one or more attacks; 2. The acts of the perpetrator must be part of the attack(s); 3. The attack(s) must be directed against any civilian population; 4. The attack(s) must be widespread or systematic; 5. The perpetrator must know that his or her acts constitute part of a pattern of widespread or systematic crimes directed against a civilian population and know that his or her acts fit into such a pattern. The underlying ―acts‖ — or crimes — referred to in the above paragraph (2) have been enumerated in the Rome Statute.17 The list includes a number of the violations described elsewhere in this report, for example, unlawful killings;18 enforced disappearances;19 torture 13 See William Schabas, The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010), Otto Triffterer, Commentary on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Observers‟ Notes, Article by Article 2nd ed., (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2008) and M. Cherif Bassiouni, International Criminal Law (3 vols.) 3rd ed., (Boston, Martinus Nijhoff, 2008). 14 See http://www.icc-cpi.int. 15 Article 7, Rome Statute. See M. Cherif Bassiouni, Crimes Against Humanity: Historical Evolution and Contemporary Practice (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011). 16 The ―Elements of Crimes‖ applied to cases at the International Criminal Court, Available from http://www.icc-cpi.int. See also Prosecutor v. Kunarac et al., IT-96-23-T & IT-96-23/1-T, Judgement, Trial Chamber, 22 February 2001. 17 The list in the Statute includes murder, extermination, enslavement, forcible transfer of population, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance, apartheid and other inhumane acts. See Article 7 (1) (a–k). 18 Listed as murder under Article 7 (1) (a) of the Rome statute. See annex V. 19 Article 7 (1) (h) of the Rome statute. See annex VII