How is genocide different from crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute?

Under the Rome Statute, both genocide and crimes against humanity represent grave violations of international law, but they are distinguished primarily by the perpetrator's intent.1

• Genocide: This crime is defined by the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group because of its identity. The acts involved—such as killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, or imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction—must be committed with this targeted, group-based intent.12
• Crimes against Humanity: These consist of various acts, such as murder, enslavement, or torture, committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population. Unlike genocide, crimes against humanity do not require the perpetrator to have a specific intent to destroy a protected group; the focus is on the nature and scale of the attack against civilians.13

While their definitions may overlap in practice—as both can involve mass murder—the legal requirement for a specific, identity-based intent remains the fundamental distinction between the two.1