Torture committed in the context of and in direct connection with any armed conflict is beyond doubt a war crime under customary international law. Torture that is committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population within or outside armed conflict, with knowledge of the attack, is a crime against humanity. Torture is not explicitly an act of genocide when committed with the specific intent ‘to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such’. Nevertheless, in a landmark judgment, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda held torture formed part of the predicate offence of causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of one of the four protected groups.