Paragraph 6 2 of the Rome Statue
of the International Criminal court
sets out the punishable act in genocide
of causing the serious bodily mental harm
to members of the group
and again we have to refer as
we did in paragraph 1 and other paragraphs
that follow to the definition in the Chapeau
The introductory paragraph of article 6
So that the causing of serious bodily or mental harm
to members of the group has to be done with the
intent to destroy in whole or in part national, ethnic
racial or religious group as such
We have to first pay attention to the word
serious, because it is not any form of bodily or mental harm
at the same time it does not have to be harm
that causes physical impairment, that's obvious
from the use of the term mental harm
In the interpretation of this
courts have looked at acts like torture, sexual violence and rape
in particular as acts that would fall within the
heading of paragraph 2 of article 6 of the definition in
the elements of crime which is the document annexed
the rome statute that includes some more specific
some precision about what the definitions
of the crimes mean.
We find the following text, I quote
"This conduct may include but is
not necessarily restricted to acts of torture, rape,
sexual violence or inhumane or degrading treatment.
And in particular in the case law of International Criminal Tribunal
for a longer applying a definition of genocide
that's identical to that of the article 6 of the rome statue
The judges of tribunal have ruled that the acts of rape
could be acts considered to be acts of genocide
within the meaning of the definition.