Judge Finds ‘Probably Guilty’ Rwandan Not Guilty Beyond All Doubt

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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An Ontario Superior Court judge ruled on Friday that a Rwandan refugee accused of crimes against humanity is “probably guilty,” but the Crown failed to prove the case beyond all doubt. Rwandan refugee, Jacques Mungwarere, was the second person to be tried under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act in Canada, of which if he was convicted by the court, he would have been automatically sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 25 years. However, instead the judge announced that neither of the witnesses presented by either side was believable beyond any doubt, so the threshold of guilt “beyond reasonable doubt” was not met.

Mungwarere was witnessed living in Windsor, Ont., in 2003, by a man from his childhood who immediately contacted the RCMP. The alleged childhood friend of Mungwarere alleged that he was not an innocent refugee claimant but an active participant in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Consequently, RCMP set up a special unit who spent an extensive number of six years to comprehensively investigate Mungwarere, making three trips to Rwanda to interview witnesses. The Crown was granted a special order that protected identities of majority of witnesses during trial.

Mungwarere was accused of more than a few wrongdoings, including attacks, rapes, murders, and partaking in a massacre at a compound that included two churches and a hospital. However, the defence argued that Mungwarere wasn’t present at the massacre, alleging that the accusations against him were fabricated and part of the backlash in Rwanda.