Désiré Munyaneza (born 1966) is a Rwandan businessman and convicted
war criminal who was living in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, Ontario, Canada, before being imprisoned. He is the first man to be arrested and convicted in Canada on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, for his role in the
1994 Rwandan Genocide. He was sent to jail in October 2009.
Arrest
On October 19, 2005, the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
announced it had detained Munyaneza under the
Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act with charges for two counts of genocide, two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes.
Munyaneza was the first person to be arrested under that law, which was passed to give formal recognition to Canada's obligations to the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...
.
Munyaneza committed the acts near
Butare
Butare (), also known as Huye, is a city (population: 50,220 as of 2012) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of Huye district. It is the fourth largest town in Rwanda by population.
History
The Belgian colonial rulers establish ...
,
Rwanda in 1994.
Trial
Munyaneza's trial began in March 2007 with the testimony of a woman, identified only as witness C-15, who stated that she had pretended to be dead for three days and smeared her sister's blood on her body to hide from
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe ( or ) is a Hutu paramilitary organization active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The Interahamwe was formed around 1990 as the youth wing of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND ...
gangs.
On April 10, a witness known as C-17 testified that Munyaneza had raped her four times, and that she had witnessed him personally raping and killing others.
On April 11, Munyaneza was severely beaten in his cell at the Rivières-des-Prairies prison by a 17-year-old who had heard about the details of Munyaneza's trial in the media.
On May 22, 2009, Munyaneza, 42 years old, was convicted on seven counts related to genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The offences fall under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, which allows residents to be tried for crimes committed abroad. Munyaneza is the first person to be convicted under the Canadian law.
The trial, held in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
with the court also travelling to Rwanda, saw sixty-six people testify in court.
Many had their identities hidden.
Sentence
On October 29, 2009, Munyaneza was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
CTV News , Munyaneza handed life sentence for war crimes
/ref> Canadian law stated that Munyaneza's criminal activities were the "worst in existence".
References
External links
GREPIH
Working Group in International Criminal and Humanitarian Law, a student organization of th
UQAM
which supervises the monitoring of the Munyaneza trial.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munyaneza, Desire
1966 births
Living people
Rwandan emigrants to Canada
Rwandan genocide perpetrators
Rwandan people convicted of genocide
Rwandan people convicted of crimes against humanity
Rwandan people convicted of war crimes
Rwandan people imprisoned abroad
Rwandan prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Canada
Violence against women in Rwanda