The Trial Chamber convicted the Appellant of aiding and abetting genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity for tacit approval of the killings perpetrated at Nyange Church. The Appeals Chamber granted some of the Prosecution’s grounds of appeal, setting aside the Trial Chamber’s finding of aiding and abetting genocide and extermination and instead finding the Appellant responsible in relation to the underlying crimes through his participation in a joint criminal enterprise.
1. “[A]cts or omissions specifically directed to assist, encourage, or lend moral support to the perpetration of a specific crime” with “a substantial effect upon the perpetration of the crime” (¶ 147)
2. “[K]nowledge that the acts performed by the aider and abettor assist the commission of the specific crime of the principal perpetrator” (¶ 157)
ACTUS REUS: An individual can be found liable for aiding and abetting a crime when ti is established that his conduct amount to tacit approval and encouragement of hte crime and that such condct substantially contributed to the crime. When this form of aiding and abetting has been a basis for conviction, “it has been the authority of hte accused combined with his presence on (or very near) the crime scene, especially if considered with his prior conduct, which all together allow the conclusion that the accused’s conduct amounts to official sanction of the crime and thus substantially contributes to it” (¶ 147).