Canada is starting a war crimes trial Monday for a Rwandan man accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide in his country.
Desire Munyaneze is the first person to stand trial in Canada under its Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes act passed in 2000.
Munyaneze is accused of committing rape and murder of civilians in Rwanda. In 1994, Hutu extremists killed about 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.
Munyaneza arrived in Canada a decade ago to seek asylum. Canada rejected his request because it suspected he was involved with the genocide. He was arrested in 2005.
Retired General Romeo Dallaire for the United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda is expected to testify against Munyaneza.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
