In September, I complained about the judgment in the Bizimungu et al. case at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The Tribunal announced the verdict, which involved the acquittal of two of the four defendants, but did not immediately publish the judgment. It is now available
here.
I saw some strange formulation in it. As far as I know one can be either convicted as participant in the crime, Article 6(1), or as superior under 6(3), but not both. “The judges have progressively ruled out the possibility of convicting a defendant for both counts of responsibility in relation to the same crimes.”, Meloni, Command responsibility, p.211. But If I look at the decision in this case it seems that the court convicted Sagahutu for both: "The Chamber recalls that the Prosecution charges Sagahutu with both direct responsibility under Article 6(1) and superior responsibility under Article 6(3) for murder as a war crime in relation to the killings of the Belgian soldiers. In addition, the Prosecution charges Sagahutu with superior responsibility under Article 6(3) for murder as a crime against humanity in relation to these killings. The Chamber has convicted Sagahutu under Article 6(1) for murder as a war crime for his role in ordering as well as aiding and abetting the killing of the Belgian soldiers at Camp Kigali on 7 April. In addition, in line with the Indictment, the Chamber has convicted Sagahutu as a superior under Article 6(3) for failing to prevent or punish these crimes.", ICTR 17 May 2011. P. v. Augustin Bizimungu et al., para. 2250
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could explain that to us?