A man accused of playing a role in inciting the Rwandan genocide of 1994 looks set to be sent back to the country, after Canadian authorities issued court documents set his deportation for the 12th of January.

59-year old Leon Mugesera has lived in Quebec since fleeing Rwanda in 1993 and was granted permanent resident status. However, just two years later, Canadian authorities learnt of his complicity in the genocide and began deportation proceedings against him, believing there were reasonable grounds to suspect that he had committed crimes against humanity.

Mugusera is accused of delivering a speech in the country in 1992, where he called the Tutsi people "cockroaches" and "scum", and went on to encourage their murder by fellow Hutus.

His deportation has been delayed for more than 15 years over concerns that he may face an unfair trial or torture on his return. Mugusera’s name also appears on a US State Department list of those implicated in the 1994 genocide, were 800,000 ethnic Tutsi’s were killed in just 100 days by government-backed Hutu militias.

After dealing with cases of accused Rwandans in both Norway and Sweden, the European Human Rights Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda decided that accused war criminals could be sent back to Rwanda.

If Mugusera is successfully deported, he would be the first refugee claimant from the West accused of partaking in the genocide to be sent back to the country, and could pave the way for others to follow.

Fannie Lafontaine, a scholar in international law at Laval University in Quebec City, said,

“The wave is happening, and these are test cases, in a sense. They will be really closely watched.”

See our earlier post:

Sweden 'no safe haven' - chief war crimes investigator (23 Dec 2011)