Time in Rwanda
An ethnicCanada
In Canada, Mugesera and his family arrived as refugees, but were quickly granted permanent residency, permanent resident status. Mugesera secured a job teaching at Université Laval.Accusation of war-crimes
Philip Gourevitch, author of ''We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families'', claims that Mugesera's 1992 speech gave necessary momentum to the anti-Tutsi hysteria that led to the genocide, saying that "[Mugesera] was one of the first to go in a major public speech and say, 'Look, our mistake in the past with the Tutsi minority has been allowing them to survive, has been allowing them to live. We must get rid of them.'"Deportation process
In 1995, Canadian government lawyers began deportation hearings against Mugesera. Two immigration tribunals ordered his deportation, however, the Canadian Federal Court of Canada, Federal Court of Appeal overturned these verdicts. Justice Robert Décary, writing for the Court, held that there was no evidence linking the 1992 speech with the genocide which occurred two years later. In all cases Mugesera was represented by Quebec lawyer Guy Bertrand (lawyer), Guy Bertrand. On August 1, 2001, Mugesera issued a statement, requesting a trial under Canada's new Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. The decision of the Federal Court of Appeal was later overturned by Mugesera v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), an 8-0 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on June 28, 2005, which upheld the original deportation order. The deportation was delayed because of concerns about the possible use of the death penalty in Rwanda, Rwanda abolished their death penalty in 2007. Mugesera then began fighting his deportation on the basis of fears he would be tortured in Rwanda. As Canada would be reluctant to deport someone who could face torture, Kigali offered Canada "diplomatic guarantees" about the treatment of Mugesera. On January 23, 2012, a Quebec Superior Court judge rejected Léon Mugesera's bid to avoid deportation. Mugesera was deported via Montreal's international airport the same day by 4 PM. On April 15, 2016, Mugesera was convicted ofAppeal
On September 25, 2020, Rwanda's Court of Appeal in Kigali ruled against Mugesera's claim that his life sentence should be set aside. He contended that his trial had been unfair and that the conditions of his imprisonment were inhumane. Mugesera's request for a retrial was denied. The Court panel rejected his claim that the recordings which were the basis of his incitement conviction were not authentic.African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
From 2017 to 2020 the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights deliberated over several charges brought by Mugesera. In 2016, Rwanda's government had filed a Declaration that it would no longer allow individual complaints to be heard by the African Court. The Court held that such Declarations would only be effective after one year. Since Mugesera's complaint was filed within the year it was held admissible, but Rwanda's government chose not to take part in the deliberations. Although the Court rejected some of Mugesera's allegations (e.g. inadequate counsel) it accepted others (inhumane jail conditions, inadequate medical care).References
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See also
*Protais Zigiranyirazo *African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights {{DEFAULTSORT:Mugesera, Leon Living people 1952 births Rwandan people convicted of genocide Rwandan emigrants to Canada People deported from Canada Hutu people People from Rubavu District People convicted of incitement to genocide Rwandan genocide perpetrators Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Rwanda