Rwandan imprisoned for hate speech fails in bid for Canadian intervention

A Quebec judge has dismissed the case of a former senior Rwandan politician who was deported from Canada and ended up in prison for his role in the central African country’s genocide more than three decades ago.

Léon Mugesera, 74, is serving a life sentence in Rwanda for hate speech aimed at stirring up killings of minority Tutsis in the early 1990s. Canada deported him to Rwanda in January 2012.

He took Attorney General Sean Fraser to Federal Court claiming that his “fundamental rights are being violated in his homeland, and that Canada has the duty to intervene with the Rwandan government in light of the diplomatic assurances received prior to his removal from Canada.”

Justice Denis Gascon concluded in a recent decision out of Montreal that Canada owes Mugesera nothing.

“Canada did not and does not have an ongoing obligation to monitor the way the Rwandan authorities have been treating Mr. Mugesera since his removal from Canada,” Gascon said.

“Given the absence of any obligation on Canada in this regard, the court is of the opinion that Canada’s conduct did not contribute to the violations of fundamental rights that Mr. Mugesera claims to be suffering at the hands of the Rwandan authorities in Rwanda.”

About 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by extremist forces in the regime, then dominated by Hutus, in 1994 over a period of 100 days.

Mugesera, a university professor and influential politician, made a speech in 1992 that incited the slaughter of the minority Tutsis. He fled the country, arriving in Canada in 1993 as a permanent resident, along with his wife and five children. But his status was revoked and he was ordered deported in 1996 when authorities learned he wasn’t forthcoming on his application form when entering Canada. His wife is a Canadian citizen and still living in Canada, according to Gascon’s ruling.

Mugesera appealed the deportation order all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously in 2005 that there were reasonable grounds to believe he had committed crimes against humanity.

It then took six years for the Canadian government to assess the risk to Mugesera’s life if returned to Rwanda.

When Canada again ordered him deported in December 2011, Mugesera’s lawyers, convinced their client had no chance of a fair trial in Rwanda, turned to the Federal Court, Quebec Superior Court and the United Nations in failed last-ditch efforts to keep him here.

In April 2016, the Rwandan high court convicted Mugesera, who had been a regional vice-chairman in the ruling party, of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Mugesera has since alleged that his “physical and moral integrity was undermined many times by the Rwandan authorities,” that his “conditions of detention constitute mistreatment,” and that “he received death threats from and was regularly humiliated by the Rwandan authorities, which contributed to his psychological distress,” according to the Federal Court decision.

“In addition, he testified that his health requires ongoing medical attention and that the Rwandan authorities have not been ensuring access to the necessary health care, either because they fail to keep his appointments with various specialists or give him expired medication.”

Mugesera and his wife, Gemma Uwamariya, had asked the Federal Court of Canada for a series of declarations including that his fundamental rights “have been and continue to be violated,” that diplomatic assurances provided to Canada “have been repeatedly and continually infringed upon by the Republic of Rwanda,” and that “the Government of Canada has a duty to act and intervene with the Republic of Rwanda in view of Mr. Mugesera’s fundamental rights violations.”

It’s clear, Gascon said in his Aug. 25 decision, that Mugesera, “as a foreign national who was validly removed from Canada, is not afforded the protections set out under the Canadian Charter, which no longer applies to him. Given this context, it would be inappropriate and ill-advised for the court to issue the declaratory reliefs Mr. Mugesera is seeking regarding the alleged breach of his fundamental rights by the Rwandan authorities.”

Canada’s Attorney General argued that “the evidence is insufficient to allow the court to determine whether Rwanda has infringed Mr. Mugesera’s fundamental rights or whether Rwanda is not complying with the Diplomatic Assurances Provided as to Mr. Mugesera’s conditions of detention,” said the decision.

“He notes that no expert evidence was administered regarding Mr. Mugesera’s health, the health care provided and any additional health care that might be required, and that there is no basis on which to conclude that his conditions of detention are inconsistent with international standards.”

Moreover, said the decision, Fraser “is of the view that this issue is simply not justiciable before the Canadian courts and cannot be disposed of by this court without a risk of markedly and unfairly encroaching on the role of the executive power in terms of international relations.”