This case summary is part of a collection of summaries describing the cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). See the Online Resource Hub pages on the ICTR and International Criminal Law, and table of ICTR case summaries for additional information.
Trial Judgment: 27 January 2000; Appeal Judgment: 16 November 2001
Alfred Musema, the former director of the State-administered Gisovu Tea Factory in Kibuye Prefecture, stood trial for transporting and ordering armed attackers, including employees of the factory, to attack Tutsis in Gisovu and Gishyita Communes, and for his own participation in the attacks. The prosecution charged Musema with direct responsibility for genocide; complicity in genocide; conspiracy to commit genocide; crimes against humanity for acts of extermination, murder, rape, and other inhumane acts; and war crimes for acts of violence to life and outrages upon dignity.
In 2000, an ICTR Trial Chamber found Musema guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for acts of extermination and rape; but the Trial Chamber acquitted Musema of the charges of conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity for murder and other inhumane acts because the prosecution failed to introduce evidence sufficient to prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The Trial Chamber also acquitted Musema of the charges of war crimes for acts of violence to life and outrages upon dignity because the prosecution failed to show a sufficient nexus between the offenses and the general armed conflict.
In 2001, the ICTR Appeals Chamber affirmed Musema’s conviction for genocide and crimes against humanity for acts of extermination, but overturned the conviction for crimes against humanity for acts of rape on the basis of new evidence introduced before the Appeals Chamber. The Appeals Chamber affirmed Musema’s life sentence.