The existence of a “global criminal network” that committed acts that meet the legal criteria to be considered crimes against humanity is evidenced by the millions of documents related to the convicted pedophile, according to the statement of independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, according to the Guardian.
Racism, corruption, extreme misogyny
The crimes described in the documents released by the US Department of Justice were committed in a context of beliefs related to supremacy, racism, corruption and extreme misogyny, experts said. According to them, the crimes indicate the commodification and dehumanization of women and girls.
Crimes against humanity
“So serious are the scale, nature, systematic nature and transnational dimension of these atrocities against women and girls that some of them may meet the legal criteria for crimes against humanity,” the experts said in a statement.
Experts stressed that the allegations contained in the documents require an independent, thorough and impartial investigation and also called for an investigation into how such crimes could have been committed over such a long period of time. The US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A law, passed by Congress with broad bipartisan support in November, requires the release of all documents related to Epstein.
The UN experts also raised concerns about “serious breaches of compliance obligations and inappropriate anonymization/deletion of information” that revealed sensitive data about victims. More than 1,200 victims have been identified in the documents released so far.
“The reluctance to fully disclose information or expand investigations has left many victims feeling re-traumatized,” the experts said.
The release of documents by the Department of Justice – both before and after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges, including soliciting underage girls.
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell in 2019 after being rearrested on federal child sex trafficking charges.
