121 quintessentially genocidal frame of mind, the accused would have to be acquitted of crimes against humanity because he acted for “purely personal” reasons. Similarly, if the same man said that he participated in the genocide only for the “purely personal” reason that he feared losing his job, he would also be entitled to an acquittal. Thus, individuals at both ends of the spectrum would be acquitted. In the final analysis, any accused that played a role in mass murder purely out of self-interest would be acquitted. This shows the meaninglessness of any analysis requiring proof of “non-personal” motives. The Appeals Chamber does not believe, however, that the Trial Chamber meant to reach such a conclusion. Rather, the requirement that the accused’s acts be part of a context of largescale crimes, and that the accused knew of this context, was misstated by the Trial Chamber as a negative requirement that the accused not be acting for personal reasons. The Trial Chamber did not, the Appeals Chamber believes, wish to import a “motive” requirement; it simply duplicated the context and mens rea requirement, and confused it with the need for a link with an armed conflict, and thereby seemed to have unjustifiably and inadvertently added a new requirement. 270. The conclusion is therefore warranted that the relevant case-law and the spirit of international rules concerning crimes against humanity make it clear that under customary law, “purely personal motives” do not acquire any relevance for establishing whether or not a crime against humanity has been perpetrated. C. Conclusion 271. The Trial Chamber correctly recognised that crimes which are unrelated to widespread or systematic attacks on a civilian population should not be prosecuted as crimes against humanity. Crimes against humanity are crimes of a special nature to which a greater degree of moral turpitude attaches than to an ordinary crime. Thus to convict an accused of crimes against humanity, it must be proved that the crimes were related to the attack on a civilian population (occurring during an armed conflict) and that the accused knew that his crimes were so related. 272. For the above reasons, however, the Appeals Chamber does not consider it necessary to further require, as a substantive element of mens rea, a nexus between the specific acts allegedly committed by the accused and the armed conflict, or to require proof Case No.: -94-1-A 15 July 1999

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