The Trial Chamber found Appellant, conseiller of Gishyita Sector of Kibuye Prefecture, guilty of committing, instigating, and abetting genocide and rape and murder as crimes against humanity. It held, among the other convictions, that the Appellant, a “well-known and influential person in his community,” abetted others who raped women, including by giving permission to a rapist to “take away” the victim (¶ 190). The Appeals Chamber dismissed Muhimana’s ground of appeal with respect to this aiding and abetting conviction.
1. Acts “specifically directed to assist, encourage, or lend moral support to the perpetration of a specific crime” with “a substantial effect on the perpetration of the crime”
2. Knowledge “that the acts assist the commission of the specific crime of the principal perpetrator” (¶ 189)
ACTUS REUS: “For an accused to be convicted of abetting an offence, it is not necessary to prove that he had authority over the principal perpetrator” (¶ 189).