extended the prohibition of torture to sexual violence. vi) Rape as means of Genocide In the only conviction yet for genocide, the trial chamber at the ICTR found in the Akayesu judgment that rape can be a means to commit genocide. The definition of genocide in the ICTR statute is the same as in the Genocide Convention. 230 The judgment provides an important gender analysis while interpreting one of the elements of genocide, that is, “measures to prevent births.” It states: the measures intended to prevent births within the group, should be construed as sexual mutilation, the practice of sterilization, forced birth control, separation of the sexes and prohibition of marriages. In patriarchal societies, where membership of a group is determined by the identity of the father, an example of a measure intended to prevent births within a group is the case where, during rape, a woman of the said group is deliberately impregnated by a man of another group, with the intent to have her give birth to a child who will consequently not belong to its mother’s group. 231 Furthermore, the Chamber recognised that the measures to prevent births are not necessarily always physical. It notes that “rape can be a measure intended to prevent births when the person raped refuses subsequently to procreate, in the same way that members of a group can be led through threats or trauma, not to procreate”. 232 Extending the understanding of the norms of patriarchal societies to arrive at how they may be employed to prevent or restrict births and that these could also be through psychological means is a significant judicial recognition of sexual violence as a tool of genocide. 6.4 International Criminal Court (ICC) In recognition of sexual violence as one of the key additions to the modern armoury of weapons of war, the statute of the ICC has expanded the range of sexual violence crimes recognised as war crimes and has made provision in the evidence rules and procedures to ensure effective investigation and prosecution. A similar range of sexual violence crimes has also been recognised as crimes against humanity to ensure accountability when such crimes are widespread or systematic but not in situations of wars or armed conflicts. The ICC’s Rome statute, the elements of crimes and rules of procedure and evidence have been informed by the jurisprudence of the ad-hoc tribunals. The Rome Statute has also codified existing prohibitions on sexual violence as war crimes as listed in the Geneva Conventions and improved upon them to address some of the critiques that feminists have of the approach to crimes against civilian and combatant women during war. Attached as Annexure 6A to this section is a brief overview of the gender provisions in the Rome Statute. 230 Article 2 of the ICTR statute contains the provisions on Genocide as follows: 1.The International Tribunal for Rwanda shall have the power to prosecute persons committing genocide as defined in paragraph 2 of this article or of committing any of the other acts enumerated in paragraph 3 of this article 2.Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: a) Killing members of the group; b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. 231 The Prosecutor v Jean-Paul Akayesu, ICTR Trial Chamber Judgment, Case No. ICTR-96-4-T, 2 September 1998, ¶ 507 & 508. 232 Ibid at 508. 62 6. INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AND CRIMINAL LAW | REDRESS