The Human Rights Council has demanded suspected perpetrators be prosecuted regardless of their status or wealth
Abuses carried out by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could meet the definition of crimes against humanity, the UN has claimed, while demanding accountability for the suspected perpetrators.
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) released a statement in response to the millions of files released by the US government related to criminal investigations into the late financier.
The files reveal instances of “sexual slavery, reproductive violence, enforced disappearance, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, and femicide,” reads the document penned by a group of independent experts and published on Monday.
“So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities… that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity,” it states.
Epstein, who according to the authorities died by suicide in jail in 2019, moved in circles that included figures from politics, entertainment, and business. He faced criminal investigations in the US over allegations that he operated a system to recruit and sexually exploit young girls.
While Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted, “questions persist regarding the potential involvement of additional individuals” and financial structures linked to the alleged criminal enterprise, the UN wrote in a press release on Tuesday.
The UNHRC has urged the US and other countries to prosecute those implicated in the scandal, stating that “resignations alone” are not enough.
“It is imperative that governments act decisively to hold perpetrators accountable. No one is too wealthy or too powerful to be above the law,” they state.
The release of the Epstein files, totaling over 3.5 million pages, has triggered a wave of resignations across several countries. In the UK, the political fallout has been most severe, with three senior officials in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government stepping down, and the brother of King Charles, Andrew, losing his titles.
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In the US, a top Wall Street law firm chairman and a prominent New York arts school chair have resigned. In Europe, national security advisers in Slovakia and Norway have stepped down, along with the president of the Swedish UNHCR and a former French culture minister.
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