[1] Kajelijeli Trial Judgement, para. 852; Akayesu Trial Judgement, para. 557; Mugesera v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [2005] 2 S.C.R. 100, 2005 SCC 40, para. 87. See also Comments of the International Law Commission on the Draft Code of Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind, p. 22: “The element of direct incitement requires specifically urging another individual to take immediate criminal action rather than merely making a vague or indirect suggestion.”

[2] Articles 2(2) and (3) of the Statute reproduce Articles 2 and 3 of the Genocide Convention. The travaux préparatoires of the Genocide Convention can therefore shed light on the interpretation of Articles 2(2) and (3) of the Statute. In particular, the travaux préparatoires demonstrate that Article 3(c) (Article 2(3)(c) of the Statute of the Tribunal) is intended to criminalize only direct appeals to commit acts of genocide and not all forms of incitement to hatred. Indeed, the first draft of the Convention, which was prepared by a group of experts on behalf of the United Nations Secretary General (UN Doc. E/447), contained provisions criminalizing not only direct and public incitement to commit genocide (Article II (II)(2.)), but also all forms of public propaganda tending by their systematic and hateful character to promote genocide, or tending to make it appear as necessary, legitimate or excusable (Article III). The second draft of the Convention (prepared by the Ad Hoc Committee of the Economic and Social Council, UN Doc. E/794), contained only one provision criminalizing direct and public incitement to commit genocide, regardless of whether it was made in public or in private, and of whether it was successful or not (Article IV(c)). The Soviet delegate had suggested the inclusion of a provision criminalizing hate propaganda and propaganda tending to incite acts of genocide, but the suggestion was rejected by the majority of the Ad Hoc Committee (UN Doc. E/794, p. 23). Later, the Soviet delegate again suggested to the 6th Committee of the General Assembly an amendment of Article III (UN Doc. A/C.6/215/Rev. 1) criminalizing “all forms of public propaganda (press, radio, cinema, etc.) that tend to incite racial, national or religious hatred” and “all forms of propaganda that are aimed at provoking the commission of acts of genocide”. The amendment was rejected (UN ORGA, 6th Committee, 3rd Session, 87th meeting, p. 253). The reasons for rejecting the two parts of the amendment seem to have been the same as those for rejecting the Soviet amendment presented to the Ad Hoc Committee: the first part of the amendment fell outside the framework of the Genocide Convention (see addresses of the delegates of Greece, France, Cuba, Iran, Uruguay and India) while the second part was a duplication of the provision prohibiting incitement of direct and public incitement to commit genocide (see addresses of the delegates of Greece, Cuba, Iran, Uruguay, Egypt, the United States of America). See UN ORGA, 6 th Committee, 3rd Session, 86th meeting, UN Doc. A/C.6/3/CR. 86, 28 October 1948, pp. 244-248, and UN ORGA, 6th Committee, 3rd Session, 87th meeting, UN Doc. A/C.6/3/CR. 87, 29 October 1948, pp. 248-254.

[3] See Judgement, para. 1032 (referring to the broadcast of 4 June 1994 as “illustrative of the incitement engaged in by RTLM”). See also para. 483 (referring to the broadcast of 13 May 1994 and the one of 5 June 1994 as explicitly calling for extermination).

[1] See, e.g., Nahimana et al. Appeal Judgement, para. 985; Kvočka Appeal Judgement, para. 320; Blaškić Appeal Judgement, para. 131.

[2] Nahimana et al. Appeal Judgement, para. 986, referring to Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

[3] Nahimana et al. Appeal Judgement, paras. 987, 988.