Israel

The word “apartheid” is the Afrikaans word for “apartness” or “separate.” In 1948, apartheid became the official policy of the white South African government, referring to the laws, policies, and practices established by the South African government to maintain the supremacy of the white minority over the non-white majority.

In 1973, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, defining apartheid as a crime against humanity, not specific to South Africa. The crime of apartheid is defined by “inhuman acts” committed with the purpose of imposing racial segregation and discrimination on a targeted group, and establishing domination of one group over another. The Convention specifically prohibits acts “designed to divide the population...by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups, the prohibition of mixed marriages...the expropriation of landed property.” The Convention also prohibits measures that deprive people and organizations of their basic human rights including “the right to work, …the right to education, the right to leave and to return to their country, the right to a nationality, the right to freedom of movement and residence.