Accused Rwandan war criminal to receive deportation ruling

 

Man suspected of inciting Rwandan genocide has fought deportation for 15 years

Leon Mugesera, seen here with his wife in 2005, is accused of inciting bloodshed in a speech he gave in 1992. (Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)

An accused Rwandan war criminal is making a last-ditch effort to avoid deportation.

Leon Mugesera will be in Federal Court in Montreal Monday to argue for a stay of the deportation order calling for him to leave the country on Thursday.

Mugesera has lived in Quebec since 1993 and was granted permanent resident status.

However, in 1995, the Canadian government learned of allegations that Mugesera gave a speech three years earlier at a political meeting in Rwanda, inciting party militants to kill Tutsis. According to court documents, killings took place the next day.

Mugesera's name appears on a list prepared by the U.S. State Department of those implicated in the genocide in Rwanda.

He has been fighting and delaying orders for his deportation for more than 15 years.

Laval University law professor Fannie Lafontaine said Mugesera's chances of a successful appeal are uncertain.

“It's hard to know exactly in what kind of legal channel he's in right now,” said Lafontaine.

If deported on Thursday, Mugesera would be the first refugee claimant sent back to Rwanda to face charges for war crimes.

In early December, Canada’s Immigration Ministry handed down an 80-page decision that stated Mugesera’s life would not be in danger if he was returned to his home country to stand trial.

It came six years after the Supreme Court restored the decision to return Mugesera to Rwanda, citing reasonable grounds to believe he committed a crime against humanity.

However, the deportation wasn’t immediately enforced because he could have faced the death penalty in his own country.

Rwanda dropped the death penalty for convicted war criminals in 2007.

Lafontaine said that if the deportation goes ahead, Canada's responsibility doesn't end there.

“We need to make sure, considering the current political context in Rwanda, that Mr. Mugesera is not just sent back to have a kangaroo court trial,” said Lafontaine.