IBUKA denounces the Mungwarere acquittal by Ontorio Superior Court

The Ontario Superior Court in Canada on Friday acquitted Jacques Mungwarere of Genocide crimes on grounds that the prosecution could not prove beyond doubt that he was guilty.

Mungwarere, who was arrested in November last year by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on a tip-off by a citizen, becomes the second Genocide suspect to be charged on Canadian soil, following the conviction of Desire Munyaneza who was in 2009 handed a life sentence.

“Although we may not be happy with his acquittal, we have to respect the decision of the court. For now, we haven’t read the verdict, after reading it, we will make an informed opinion,” said the spokesman of the Rwandan Prosecution, Alain Mukuralinda.

While delivering the verdict Judge Michel Charbonneau said Mungwarere had been acquitted on grounds that prosecution witnesses had conflicting accounts, at some point.

Reacting to the development, Dr Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, the president of Ibuka, an umbrella organization of Genocide survivors, observed that the acquittal is a result of how the dossier was packaged by prosecution.

“We need to add more efforts especially on our side (of Rwanda), with the Genocide survivors giving information that’s relevant and consistent with the charges. Concerning this particular case, we hope prosecution will appeal and we need the prosecution to appeal and we need the witness to support the prosecution,” he said.

Mungwarere claimed asylum in Canada in 2001 and was granted refugee status in 2002.

A former school teacher, Mungwarere was arrested in his home in Windsor, Ontario, following cooperation between the Canadian police and Rwanda’s Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit.

Mungwarera who taught at ESPANA school in the former Kibuye Prefecture, now in the Western Province, had been accused of participating in killings at Mugonero Hospital, Murambi Adventist Church, and in Bisesero.

The tip-off:

According to Canadian media, In early 2003, a certain Hiram Gahima unexpectedly encountered a childhood friend from Rwanda on a Windsor City Bus; he immediately knew something was wrong.

The New Times