ICC lawyer: Rwandan convicted of genocide over 3 deaths

A person can be convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity after being found guilty of ordering the deaths of just three people, International Criminal Court (ICC) assistant to counsel Kristina Conti said, citing the case of Rwandan Jean-Paul Akayesu.

- JANVIC MATEO, Neil Jayson Servallos, Mark Ernest Villeza

Conti was commenting on Vice President Sara Duterte's remarks questioning the mathematics of the prosecution's evidence against detained former president Rodrigo Duterte, the Vice President's father.

"The court ruled that he was guilty of ordering the murder of three people, which constituted part of a widespread attack on the civilian population, and that the 2,000 people killed constituted a widespread attack," Conti said over the weekend.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted Akayesu in 1998 for his role in the genocide of the Tutsi ethnic group during the Rwandan civil war in the 1990s.

Based on the ruling, the politician was found to have actively participated in the killing of three civilians who had no active participation in the hostilities in the country.

"The Chamber finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing of (the victims) constitutes murder committed, as part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population on ethnic grounds and as such constitutes a crime against humanity," the 294-page ruling read.