Another fugitive arrested in Canada

CANADA - Barely a fortnight after a Canadian court slammed a life sentence on Desire Munyaneza for his role in the 1994 Genocide, Canadian police on Friday arrested Jacques Mungwarere another Genocide fugitive who has been living in the North American country. The development was confirmed yesterday by John Bosco Mutangana, the head of the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit (GFTU) saying that Mungwarere, a former secondary school teacher, was arrested at his home in Windsor, Ontario. According to Mutangana, his team has since the beginning of this year worked closely with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to adduce evidence that led to Mungwarere’s subsequent arrest. “”Though the Canadians have had his file since 2003, the investigations intensified earlier this year where a team of Canadian policemen frequently came here during their investigations,” said Mutangana, who is also a national prosecutor. Mungwarera who taught at school called ESPANA in the former Kibuye Prefecture, now in the Western Province, is accused of having participated in killing of Tutsis in four different areas. He participated in killings at Mugonero Hospital, Murambi Adventist Church, Gitwe Catholic Church and in Bisesero,” said Mutangana. He lauded the cooperation Canada has shown in bringing to book persons responsible for the Genocide which claimed over a million people, especially after the promulgation of the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act. The Act gives Canada universal jurisdiction of trying non-Canadians accused of genocide and other war crimes commited from any part of the world. “He will most definitely be tried in Canada and we have hope that justice will be dispensed based on what happened in the Munyaneza case. He was actually brought before court in Ottawa yesterday (Saturday) and was officially charged,” Mutangana said. He was remanded until Thursday when he is expected back in court. Mutangana said that cooperation between his team and both Canadian police and prosecution was still in place to ensure the arrest of other fugitives in the northern American country. “There remain a big number of suspects who are currently staying in Canada and whom we are cooperating to bring to book. I cannot reveal their identity at the moment because this would frustrate ongoing investigations.” Canada is also the current home to Leon Mugesera a former lecturer at the National University of Rwanda who is known for his hate for Tutsis in the pre-genocide era. Mugesera was tried and convicted before the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act was put in place and he is awaiting deportation, having exhausted his legal possibilities, all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. He was the first person to make public the theory of killing Tutsis and throwing them thrown into Akagera River, a tributary of River Nile which he said would make it easy to flow to Ethiopia where he said they originated. Meanwhile, the Canadians have appreciated the cooperation they received from Rwandan government whom they said never impeded or influenced their investigations. Throughout the course of the investigation, the RCMP says five investigators have conducted exhaustive interviews with numerous witnesses in Rwanda, Canada and the United States. “We’ve received very good co-operation from the government of Rwanda, which has provided logistical support particularly in locating witnesses,” RCMP spokesman Sgt. Marc Menard is quoted as having told Canadian press. “The government of Rwanda did not impede nor did it attempt to influence our investigation.” However, despite several arrests that have been made especially in western countries, little has been done by African states where most of these fugitives are freely running their businesses. According to sources in the National Public Prosecutions Authority, dozens of indictments have been sent to southern African states like Malawi and Zambia but no arrest has been made. “In some cases we even provided physical addresses of these suspects but nothing has been made,” said the source. Ends