The one-week reprieve
from deportation granted by a Quebec judge this week to Léon Mugesera, alleged
to have incited the 1994 Rwandan genocide, should be the last stay the Quebec
City resident is allowed.
Mugesera has argued for the last 16 years that
he will be tortured, possibly even killed, if he is forced to return to his
native country. His fears may have been founded in the first years following
the massacre of 800,000 Rwandans, but time has passed. Both the European Court
of Human Rights and the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda have in the past few weeks sent alleged war criminals to Rwanda to stand
trial, evidently in the belief that the country's justice system is fair.
Mugesera, who was
suddenly taken to hospital this week, is clinging to Quebec, and his luck is
holding. On Wednesday, the United Nations Committee Against Torture
unexpectedly intervened to ask Canada to delay his deportation while it
investigated his claims that he would be subject to torture in Rwanda. On
Thursday, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled that Mugesera should be given
time to argue in favour of the UN committee's proposal. But if another UN body,
the Criminal Tribune for Rwanda, has decided it is safe to send suspected war
criminals back to that country, it is not clear why the UN Committee Against
Torture needs to make another assessment.
Legal opinion is
divided on whether Canada has to agree to delay Mugesera's deportation. The
UN's recommendations, whatever they might turn out to be, are not binding on
Canada. In any event, nothing stops the UN from carrying out an assessment
while Mugesera is in Rwanda. If it finds that Rwanda's courts are failing to
deliver impartial justice, it is a matter of concern for more people than
Mugesera.
Thought should also be
given to Rwandans, who need to see the alleged architects of the genocide put
on trial. Criminal trials - conducted to international standards of fairness -
could help Rwandans come to terms with what happened to their country during
those catastrophic 100 days in 1994.They too have rights.
