Mike on Crime

Murray Brewster, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA – The Mounties have arrested a 37-year-old Rwandan man in southern Ontario and charged him with war crimes related to the 1994 genocide in his home country.

Investigators picked up Jacques Mungwarere, who’s been living in Windsor Ont., late Friday and he made a brief court appearance Saturday in Ottawa, where he was remanded in custody and his case held over until Nov. 12.

He becomes the second person to be charged with genocide under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, which became law in October 2000.

But the case, which has been over six years in the making is shrouded in secrecy.

The RCMP war crimes unit would only confirm that Mungwarere was accused of committing an act of genocide in the area of Kibuye, Rwanda.

The community is the capital of a western province and situated on a lake that borders Rwanda and the Congo. It was the scene in 1994 of a horrific massacre where at least 2,000 ethnic Tutsis died when bulldozers knocked down the church where they had sought refuge.

RCMP Sgt. Marc Menard refused to go into details about the allegation against Mungwarere, saying that prosecutors in the Justice Department will have to answer specifics.

Officials with the Justice Department were not immediately available to comment.

“The RCMP’s position is that we take this very seriously,” Menard said Saturday.

“We’re committed to prosecuting these cases to the full extent of law and we’re going to hold those involved in these types of crimes accountable for their actions.”

French authorities last month arrested the former Rwandan deputy intelligence chief, Idelphonse Nizeyimana, who among other crimes is alleged to have ordered the slaughter at Kibuye.

Nearly 800,000 members of the Tutsi ethnic minority and moderates from the Hutu majority were slaughtered during the 100-day Rwandan genocide in 1994.

Last May, Desire Munyaneza became the first person ever convicted under Canada’s War Crimes Act. A Quebec judge sentenced him to life in prison last month, with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Menard said there is connection between Mungwarere’s case and the recently concluded Munyaneza prosecution, which involved offences in a different part of Rwanda.

In a statement, the RCMP’s war crimes section said the investigation involving Mungwarere began in Feb. 2003 after the unit received a complaint from a concerned citizen. But Menard couldn’t say whether the tip originated in Canada – or elsewhere.

How Mungwarere came to be in Canada and what his status might be in the immigration system is unclear.

Menard said Canada Border Services Agency would have to answer that and officials there were not immediately available for comment.

“I can only say that he is a Rwandan national,” he said in an interview.

Throughout the course of the investigation, the RCMP says five investigators have conducted exhaustive interviews with numerous witnesses in Rwanda, Canada and the United States.

There were at least four trips to the central African country.

“We’ve received very good co-operation from the government of Rwanda, which has provided logistical support particularly in locating witnesses,” said Menard.

“The government of Rwanda did not impede nor did it attempt to influence our investigation.”

Content Provided By Canadian Press.