CSDC 506

Attempts to eliminate entire national, ethnic, religious or linguistic groups are crimes against God and humanity itself, and those responsible for such crimes must answer for them before justice.¹⁰⁶¹ Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 91AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 91 (1999) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1999), 382; John Paul II, Message for the 2000 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 92AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 92 (2000) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (2000), 362. The twentieth century bears the tragic mark of different genocides: from that of the Armenians to that of the Ukrainians, from that of the Cambodians to those perpetrated in Africa and in the Balkans. Among these, the Holocaust of the Jewish people, the Shoah, stands out: “the days of the Shoah marked a true night of history, with unimaginable crimes against God and humanity”.¹⁰⁶² John Paul II, Address at the Regina Coeli (18 April 1993), 3: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 21 April 1993, p. 12; cf. Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism, We Remember. A Reflection on the Shoah (16 March 1998), Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 1998. The international community as a whole has the moral obligation to intervene on behalf of those groups whose very survival is threatened or whose basic human rights are seriously violated. As members of an international community, States cannot remain indifferent; on the contrary, if all other available means should prove ineffective, it is “legitimate and even obligatory to take concrete measures to disarm the aggressor”.¹⁰⁶³ John Paul II, Message for the 2000 World Day of Peace, 11: AAS 92AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 92 (2000) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (2000), 363. The principle of national sovereignty cannot be claimed as a motive for preventing an intervention in defence of innocent victims.¹⁰⁶⁴ Cf. John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps (16 January 1993), 13: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 20 January 1993, p. 9; cf. John Paul II, Address to the International Conference on Nutrition sponsored by FAO and WHO (5 December 1992), 3: AAS 85AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 85 (1993) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1993), 922-923; John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 9: AAS 96AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 96 (2004) at vatican.va — list of its scanned parts (2004), 120. The measures adopted must be carried out in full respect of international law and the fundamental principle of equality among States. There is also present within the international community an International Criminal Court to punish those responsible for particularly serious acts such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. The Magisterium has not failed to encourage this initiative time and again.¹⁰⁶⁵ Cf. John Paul II, Sunday Angelus (14 June 1998): L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 17 June 1998, p. 1; John Paul II, Address to participants in the World Congress on Pastoral Promotion of Human Rights (4 July 1998), 5: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 29 July 1998, p. 8; John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 91AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 91 (1999) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1999), 382; cf. also Pius XII, Address at the Sixth International Congress of Criminal Law (3 October 1953): AAS 45AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 45 (1953) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1953), 730-744.