Alleged Rwandan war criminal seeks to avoid deportation from Canada

Jan 21, 2012, 2:43 GMT

Montreal - Lawyers for an alleged Rwandan war criminal on Friday asked a court for a stay of deportation until the UN Committee Against Torture has time to review his case.

Leon Mugesera is wanted in his native Rwanda on war crimes charges that he helped incite the 1994 genocide. Canada's federal government has been trying for more than 15 years to have Mugusera deported to stand trial in Rwanda.

Mugesera's lawyers said he will face persecution and even death if he returns. They also argue that he would not receive a fair trial.

Lawyer Martin Andre Roy told the Quebec Superior Court that Canada is legally obliged to give the UN committee time to examine the case, a process that can take several months.

Federal lawyers seeking the deportation argued that the request for the UN committee review is not binding.

The court is expected to rule Monday.

Mugesera, 59, arrived in Canada in 1993 with his wife and five children and was granted permanent residence status. They had fled Rwanda in 1992 after an arrest warrant was issued for Mugesera, who had made a speech allegedly inciting the majority Hutus to kill the minority Tutsis.

Mugesera had called Rwandan Tutsis 'cockroaches' and 'scum,' and encouraged fellow Hutus to kill them.

That speech was later broadcast at the height of the 1994 genocide, which claimed the lives of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Mugesera was ordered deported from Canada in 1996, when it was discovered that he had lied on his application form, which asked whether he had been involved in the commission of a crime against humanity.

His deportation went through several appeals until 2005, when the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that Mugesera was not admissible to Canada because there were reasonable grounds to believe he committed crimes against humanity.

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