A Canadian court on Friday found a Rwandan militia leader guilty of crimes against humanity in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in Canada’s first war crimes trial.
Desire Munyaneza, 42, was found guilty of seven counts of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity for the rape, murder and torture of dozens of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in southern Rwanda from April to July 1994.
Quebec Superior Court judge Andre Denis said in his ruling in Canada’s first war crimes trial that Munyaneza “specifically intended to destroy the Tutsi ethnic group in Butare and in the surrounding communes.
“To that end, he intentionally killed Tutsi, seriously wounded others, caused them serious physical and mental harm, sexually assaulted many Tutsi women and generally treated Tutsi inhumanely and degradingly,” he said.
“In doing so, he committed the crime of genocide” according to Canadian law, the judge said.
Munyaneza, whose sentencing is to be decided in September, now faces a possible life sentence — a maximum of 25 years in prison under Canadian law.
His defense attorney, Richard Perras, said outside the courtroom he was “very disappointed” and would appeal the verdict.
The trial was the first test of a Canadian law passed in October 2000 claiming “universal jurisdiction” over the world’s most horrific crimes.
“It was a very challenging case as it involved events dating back 15 years in a foreign country,” prosecutor Pascale Ledoux commented after the ruling.
The mere fact this case went to trial shows Canada’s resolve in bringing war criminals to justice, she said.
Cesar Gashabizi, a spokesman for the Association of Relatives and Friends of Victims of the Genocide in Rwanda, said he was “very satisfied” with the result.
“Now, nobody will come to Canada to try and hide,” he said.
Munyaneza was arrested in Toronto in 2005 after seeking asylum in Canada, which Canadian immigration officials rejected. He had fled to Cameroon after 1994 where he was exiled, before arriving in Canada in 1997.
His two-year trial heard from 66 witnesses in Canada, France, Rwanda and Tanzania, including former Canadian general Romeo Dallaire who headed a UN peacekeeping mission to Rwanda and American Alison des Forges, a historian and international observer for Human Rights Watch who provided context for the charges. Des Forges died in a US plane crash in February.
The court heard Munyaneza, the son of a wealthy Hutu beer distributor, had set up and manned roadblocks in southern Rwanda during the genocide to select Tutsis and moderate Hutu as victims based on their ethnicity or allegiances.
A man imprisoned in Rwanda for his own role in the genocide testified that Munyaneza orchestrated the massacre of 300 to 400 Tutsis in a church.
He also raped women at gunpoint at his residence, others said in court.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS