Prosecutor v. Akayesu
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Case No. IT-96-4-T (1998)
- Written by Haley Gintis, JD
Facts
In 1994 Jean-Paul Akayesu (defendant) encouraged members of the Interahamwe to commit violence against the Tutsi, a permanent and stable group existing in Rwanda. Specifically, Akayesu instructed the Interahamwe to commit sexual violence against the Tutsi women seeking refuge at the Taba Bureau communal located in Rwanda. The sexual violence committed against the Tutsi women included rape and genital mutilation and was often committed in public to psychologically destroy the Tutsi community. Akayesu often instructed the Interahamwe to execute the women following the commission of sexual violence against them. In 1998 a prosecutor (plaintiff) with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (the tribunal) argued that Akayesu’s actions against the Tutsi people constituted genocide as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the convention), which Rwanda had acceded to, and the tribunal’s own statute, which had been adopted directly from the convention. The tribunal considered the case.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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