Toronto man charged with Rwandan war crimes

A Rwandan man living in Toronto has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, making him the first person to be charged under five-year-old Canadian legislation.

• INDEPTH: Rwanda

The force says the man was arrested in Toronto on Wednesday in connection with events in Butare, Rwanda, in 1994, when one of the deadliest genocides in the century left more than 800,000 people dead in 100 days.

• INDEPTH: War crimes

Désiré Munyaneza, 39, faces seven charges under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, including:

• Two counts of genocide.
  
  
• Two counts of crimes against humanity.
  
  
• Three counts of war crimes.
  
  

An RCMP news release said the arrest resulted from a five-year investigation by the force's War Crimes Section that included interviews with many witnesses in Rwanda, Europe and Canada.

• RELATED: RCMP news release

Munyaneza is the first to be charged under the Canadian legislation, which became law in 2000, and recognizes the country's obligations to the United Nations' International Criminal Court.

"Thanks to the dedication and perseverance of the investigators on this case, we were able to make history today," Insp. Graham Burnside, who leads the RCMP War Crimes Section, said in the news release.

Burnside said the arrest could never have been made without "tremendous" help from other organizations in Canada and abroad, including the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

The RCMP didn't immediately say what action would be taken against Munyaneza.

Canadian authorities can take a number of different actions against people accused of war crimes, including denying them refugee protection, revoking citizenship, prosecuting them or extraditing them to face prosecution under an international tribunal.