Reply #67: "Crimes against humanity" is a legal term.

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Government targeting of groups or populations is one of the its most basic principles. Political persecution and imprisonment are other basic criteria needed to meet the definition of crimes against humanity. The internment of Japanese-Americans has fit the definition of "crimes against humanity" for as long as this legal term has been in existence.

For such extreme historical events, extreme in the sense of losing lives and/or rights, an understanding of their significance is done best from within a legal framework, since it gives people a standard to work with. Scale here is not as relevant as the crime itself and its legal definition of targeted victims.

Such rigid definitions are not only intended to protect people and their rights, but allow for the prosecution of the guilty.