This past week, lawyers for a Rwandan man on trial for his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide began their defence, claiming that much of the evidence against him is fabricated.
Former Toronto resident Désiré Munyaneza is accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his part in the atrocities. Munyaneza, a Hutu, allegedly led a militia on a killing and raping rampage with the intent to wipe out Rwandan Tutsis.
Munyaneza is the first person to be charged in Canada under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act of 2000.
"Previously, international crimes were contained in the Criminal Code and there had only been one prosecution attempted using the provisions of the Code," said Jillian Siskind, president of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, a group currently monitoring the trial.
"The Munyaneza trial is tremendously important for Canada in terms of its own ability to hold war criminals accountable for their actions, but also as an example among its international colleagues in a world where international accountability has tended to be restricted to international tribunals or military courts," she said.
Tamara Ramusovic, a U3 political science student and president of the McGill chapter of Journalists for Human Rights felt that a case such as this was integral in not losing sight of the atrocities of the past.
"It is important to send a message that those crimes are of such a nature that they cannot be forgotten with the passage of time and reconciliation requires bringing leaders who committeed and encouraged mass murder and rape to justice," Ramusovic said.
Experts say that Canada has had a less than perfect record in bringing suspected war criminals to justice.
The Canadian Centre for International Justice, a charitable organization, said in a press release that although government of Canada figures have shown that over 800 war criminals and human rights abusers are now living in Canada, "There have been no trials for war criminals in this country since a handful of cases against former Nazis failed in the early 1990s."
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