Canadian court finds Rwandan refugee guilty of war crimes date he arrived in Canada (Roundup)

May 22, 2009, 22:44 GMT

   Montreal - In Canada's first ever trial for war crimes committed abroad, a court Friday found a Rwandan refugee guilty of participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

   Following six months of deliberations, Quebec Superior Court Justice Andre Denis found Desire Munyaneza guilty of all seven charges against him that included genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, according to Radio Canada International.

   Munyaneza, 42, faces a possible life sentence.

   The landmark ruling makes Munyaneza the first person convicted under Canada's seven-year-old Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act.

   Charges against Munyaneza, a Hutu, stemmed from his role in massacres and rapes of Tutsis near the Rwandan town of Butare.

  'Desire Munyaneza specifically intended to destroy the Tutsi ethnic group in Butare and in the surrounding communes,' Denis wrote in his judgement. 'To that end, he intentionally killed Tutsis, seriously wounded others, caused them serious physical and mental harm, sexually assaulted many Tutsi women and generally treated Tutsi inhumanely and degradingly.'

The verdict was welcomed by members of Canada's Rwandan community.

'It's a very satisfying decision because we were waiting for it since 2007,' Richard Nsanzabaganwa, a genocide survivor who now works at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Ottawa, said in an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. 'Desire is one of those who systematically, savagely, cruelly killed people, raped women for the only reason that they were Tutsis or they did not want to join them in the killing.'

Nsanzabaganwa said he hopes Canada will follow up with more prosecutions. 'Desire came here under a false identification card,' he said. 'So many others did the same and they are here hiding among the Canadian population.'

Caesar Gashabeze, another Rwandan genocide survivor, said there are at least 10 other Hutu war criminals in Canada. 'This ruling sends them a clear message that they can't hide in Canada,' he said.

   The son of a wealthy Hutu businessman, Munyaneza fled to Canada in 1997, but was denied refugee status. He remained in Toronto until he was arrested in October 2005 after being recognized by members of the local Rwandan community who reported him to police.

   At least 800,000 people were killed in the genocide, when ethnic Hutus, the country's majority group, slaughtered and raped rival minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the small East African country.

   The multi-million-dollar trial took more than two years to complete and involved hearings in Montreal, as well as depositions in Rwanda, Kenya and France. More than 60 witnesses testified at his trial, including Canadian Senator Romeo Dallaire, who commanded UN peacekeepers in Rwanda in 1994. Many of the witnesses testified behind closed doors for fear of reprisals.

   Judge Denis said that he believed the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses more than those presented by the defence.

Munyaneza's attorney Richard Perras told the German Press Agency