Posts by Fannie Lafontaine
“Wanted: War Criminals”? : the Challenge of Ensuring Justice for Canada’s Unwanted War Criminals
What do Léon Mugesera, Désiré Munyaneza, Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes, Branko Rogan and Jacques Mungwarere have in common? They are all present in Canada. And they are all suspected of having been involved, abroad, in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity and/or war crimes. However, they face very different consequences for their alleged actions. Two have been criminally prosecuted (Munyaneza, Mungwarere), one has received a (yet to be executed) deportation order (Mugesera), one is the object of extradition proceedings (Sosa Orantes) and one faces revocation of his Canadian citizenship and possible removal from Canada (Rogan). Once a suspect is found on Canadian territory, Canada bears the responsibility of the international community to ensure accountability, here or abroad. This post examines Canada’s approach and some of the challenges it faces in living up to its commitment to fight impunity for the worst international crimes. The points and ideas discussed herein are fleshed out in an upcoming article[1] and book.[2]
Canada has been a fervent supporter of and a main actor behind the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), one of the first states to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court[3] and the first to enact an implementing legislation, the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act.[4] The War Crimes Act has as one of its main objectives to enhance and reinforce Canada’s capacity to…
