Genocide And Justice
It is truly amazing. That people simply do not feel they have done anything to be ashamed of. That they've done nothing wrong, nothing that offends human decency. They were doing what they conceived of as their duty. To something. And that something would be other than humanity. They are brazen in their denial of having taken part in an event so gruesomely horrible that people flinch at the very idea that anyone might have lived through it and take up a normal life.
It is also strange how many people who have been involved in atrocities in far-off countries seem to gravitate to Canada; from mass murderers fleeing the scene of their participation in ethnic cleansing activities in war-torn countries like Germany, Cambodia, Bosnia, Sri Lanka and Rwanda to commanders of rebel armies in places like Somalia, responsible for the violent deaths of countless people. If not they, then their families, seeking sanctuary.
Finally, after intolerable delays where clever lawyers doing the bidding of their desperate clients utilize all the legal options at their disposal at various levels of court jurisdictions and exhausting appeals, we do manage eventually to rid ourselves of the scourging presence of sadistic murderers. Like Leon Mugesera whose legal manoeuvrings, claiming his human rights would be impinged upon and calling on mercy he denied others to exhort Canada to refrain from extraditing him to his native Rwanda.
His countless appeals exhausted, he left family and friends to return to face justice in his homeland. "It had reached the point that it was no longer someone exercising his rights but an abuse of the process. The most recent events have been a headache for Rwandans and it will be a huge relief to all of us when he's here", explained Martin Ngoga in a telephone interview from Rwanda.
Rwanda's minister of foreign affairs had her own words for the return of someone who had advocated for and encouraged Hutu majority Rwandans to ferociously and bloodily turn without compassion on their Tutsi compatriots in an orgy of mutilation and massacre. In 1992 Leon Mugesera, an academic and politician of influence made a speech inciting the slaughter of minority Tutsis.
He claimed refugee status in Canada and settled in as a permanent resident until his status was revoked and he was ordered deported in 1996. He has fought the Canadian legal system, using the legal system to do so, since then. Should anyone wish to avail themselves of details; time, place and horrors as the events unfolded, they might wish to read Senator Romeo Dallaire's "Shake Hands With the Devil", recounting his experiences in Rwanda as the Canadian General tasked with heading the UN's peacekeeping mission at the time.
And now we've another candidate for removal from Canada to Rwanda: Jean Leonard Teganya, an ethnic Hutu whose father is a convicted Rwandan war criminal, deemed complicit in genocide. He too has a connection to the hideously revolting human catastrophe that took place in his native country. He too pleads for mercy, to be allowed to remain in Canada after a Federal Court Judge questioned whether it was safe to return him to Rwanda.
In 1994 Mr. Teganya was a medical intern at Butare University Hospital. Where 200 Tutsi patients, staff and moderate Hutus were butchered. Tutsi patients were handed over to marauding militiamen. In a 100-day-period the Hutu majority had managed to extinguish the lives of over 800,000 Tutsi Rwandans. Mr. Teganya fled Rwanda for asylum in Canada after spending time in Zaire, Kenya and India.
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada queried him as to how it was he remained interning at the hospital while the ethnic 'cleansing' was ongoing. He wished to complete his internship, he responded. Logical, if unimpressive. The IRB declared him ineligible for refugee status, believing him to be complicit in crimes against humanity or war crimes.
"This justification is not reasonable in the context of the Rwandan horror. Although he claims that he did not participate actively in the massacres, the panel ... is entitled to ask itself whether the claimant's passivity in the face of the massacres is not equivalent to endorsing the policies and methods of the party in power.
"The panel is entitled to ask itself why the presence of the claimant on the campus did not seem to concern the extremists, who pursued their dirty work for several weeks." Mr. Teganya has made repeated appeals to the Federal Court of Canada and won a new hearing in 2003, with a like conclusion. Appealing again, the Federal Court sided with the IRB, and a subsequent appeal turned down.
After Mr. Teganya was ordered deported for complicity, Rwandan war crimes prosecutor General Martin Ngoga was asked about the case by a Rwandan reporter: "Much as it is a matter still within Canadian jurisdiction, and subject to further appeal, it is a positive step in our collective endeavour as [a] community of nations to deal with every detail that would help bring perpetrators of genocide to justice and deny them safe haven anywhere in the world."
It is also strange how many people who have been involved in atrocities in far-off countries seem to gravitate to Canada; from mass murderers fleeing the scene of their participation in ethnic cleansing activities in war-torn countries like Germany, Cambodia, Bosnia, Sri Lanka and Rwanda to commanders of rebel armies in places like Somalia, responsible for the violent deaths of countless people. If not they, then their families, seeking sanctuary.
Finally, after intolerable delays where clever lawyers doing the bidding of their desperate clients utilize all the legal options at their disposal at various levels of court jurisdictions and exhausting appeals, we do manage eventually to rid ourselves of the scourging presence of sadistic murderers. Like Leon Mugesera whose legal manoeuvrings, claiming his human rights would be impinged upon and calling on mercy he denied others to exhort Canada to refrain from extraditing him to his native Rwanda.
His countless appeals exhausted, he left family and friends to return to face justice in his homeland. "It had reached the point that it was no longer someone exercising his rights but an abuse of the process. The most recent events have been a headache for Rwandans and it will be a huge relief to all of us when he's here", explained Martin Ngoga in a telephone interview from Rwanda.
Rwanda's minister of foreign affairs had her own words for the return of someone who had advocated for and encouraged Hutu majority Rwandans to ferociously and bloodily turn without compassion on their Tutsi compatriots in an orgy of mutilation and massacre. In 1992 Leon Mugesera, an academic and politician of influence made a speech inciting the slaughter of minority Tutsis.
He claimed refugee status in Canada and settled in as a permanent resident until his status was revoked and he was ordered deported in 1996. He has fought the Canadian legal system, using the legal system to do so, since then. Should anyone wish to avail themselves of details; time, place and horrors as the events unfolded, they might wish to read Senator Romeo Dallaire's "Shake Hands With the Devil", recounting his experiences in Rwanda as the Canadian General tasked with heading the UN's peacekeeping mission at the time.
REUTERS/Jeremiah Kamau/files An estimated 250,000 refugees fled Rwanda in 1994. Jean Leonard Teganya lived in Zaire, Kenya and India before settling in Canada in 1999.
In 1994 Mr. Teganya was a medical intern at Butare University Hospital. Where 200 Tutsi patients, staff and moderate Hutus were butchered. Tutsi patients were handed over to marauding militiamen. In a 100-day-period the Hutu majority had managed to extinguish the lives of over 800,000 Tutsi Rwandans. Mr. Teganya fled Rwanda for asylum in Canada after spending time in Zaire, Kenya and India.
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada queried him as to how it was he remained interning at the hospital while the ethnic 'cleansing' was ongoing. He wished to complete his internship, he responded. Logical, if unimpressive. The IRB declared him ineligible for refugee status, believing him to be complicit in crimes against humanity or war crimes.
"This justification is not reasonable in the context of the Rwandan horror. Although he claims that he did not participate actively in the massacres, the panel ... is entitled to ask itself whether the claimant's passivity in the face of the massacres is not equivalent to endorsing the policies and methods of the party in power.
"The panel is entitled to ask itself why the presence of the claimant on the campus did not seem to concern the extremists, who pursued their dirty work for several weeks." Mr. Teganya has made repeated appeals to the Federal Court of Canada and won a new hearing in 2003, with a like conclusion. Appealing again, the Federal Court sided with the IRB, and a subsequent appeal turned down.
After Mr. Teganya was ordered deported for complicity, Rwandan war crimes prosecutor General Martin Ngoga was asked about the case by a Rwandan reporter: "Much as it is a matter still within Canadian jurisdiction, and subject to further appeal, it is a positive step in our collective endeavour as [a] community of nations to deal with every detail that would help bring perpetrators of genocide to justice and deny them safe haven anywhere in the world."
Labels: Conflict, Government of Canada, Immigration, Justice
posted by Pieface | 7:06 PM
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