Léon Mugesera (born 1952) is a convicted genocidaire from Rwanda who took residence in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. He was deported from Canada for an inflammatory anti-

Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...

speech which his critics allege was a precursor to the 1994

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

. In 2016, he was convicted of

incitement to genocide Incitement to genocide is a crime under international law which prohibits inciting (encouraging) the commission of genocide. An extreme form of hate speech, incitement to genocide is an inchoate offense and is theoretically subject to prosecuti ...

and sentenced to life in prison.

Time in Rwanda

An ethnic

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...

, Mugesera has been a member of the dominant

MRND The National Revolutionary Movement for Development (, MRND) was the ruling political party of Rwanda from 1975 to 1994 under President Juvénal Habyarimana, running with first Vice President Édouard Karemera. From 1978 to 1991, the MRND was the ...

party, which had close ties to the military. He was MRND Vice-Chairman for

Gisenyi Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is the second largest city in Rwanda, located in the Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma as it was formerly also part of now Democratic Republic of the Congo, t ...

prefecture. In February 1991, Mugesera authored a pamphlet accusing Tutsi of plotting to "exterminate the Hutu majority". In a speech given on November 22, 1992 in Rwanda, Mugesera allegedly told 1000 party members that "we the people are obliged to take responsibility ourselves and wipe out this scum" and that they should kill Tutsis and "dump their bodies into the rivers of Rwanda." Following this speech, Rwandan minister of justice, Stanislas Mbonampeka, issued an arrest warrant against him for inciting hatred. He fled with his family first to the Rwandan army and then to

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, Canada. Shortly afterwards, Mbonampeka resigned as minister of justice in protest.

Canada

In Canada, Mugesera and his family arrived as refugees, but were quickly granted

permanent resident Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such l ...

status. Mugesera secured a job teaching at

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

Accusation of war-crimes

Philip Gourevitch, author of ''

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families ''We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda'' is a 1998 non-fiction book by ''The New Yorker'' writer Philip Gourevitch about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, in which an estimated one milli ...

'', claims that Mugesera's 1992 speech gave necessary momentum to the anti-Tutsi hysteria that led to the genocide, saying that " ugeserawas 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 Appeal The Federal Court of Appeal () is a Canadian appellate court that hears cases concerning federal matters. History Section 101 of the Constitution Act, 1867 empowers the Parliament of Canada to establish "additional Courts for the better Admi ...

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. 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 an 8–0 decision of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

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 of

and inciting ethnic hatred and sentenced to life in prison by a Rwandan court.

Appeal

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 The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, also known simply as the African Court, is an international court established by member states of the African Union (AU) to implement provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Right ...

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

External links

English transcript of Léon Mugesera's speech, delivered on November 22, 1992