Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

A hero, not a war criminal: Rwandan man linked to genocide fights to stay in Canada

By Adrian Humphreys
National Post
October 13, 2009

A man fighting to stay in Canada after being found complicit in the Rwandan genocide says he is a hero -- not a war criminal -- and secretly worked to save civilians.

"I was among the infinitesimal minority in the army who used their position not to kill, but rather to save Tutsi civilians," claims Henri Jean-Claude Seyoboka, 43, of Gatineau, Quebec.

The government dismisses his story, however, characterizing it as more lies from a desperate war criminal.

Further, his claims come as a report from Rwanda suggests Mr. Seyoboka has been hiding his family's exalted position within the former government and involvement in ethnic extremism.

Mr. Seyoboka is the son-in-law of Colonel Elie Sagatwa, who was a relative of the former first lady of Rwanda who was appointed head of presidential security and as the president's personal secretary.

Col. Sagatwa was as an early advocate of Hutu extremism. He is named as an organizer of a commando squad to kill political opponents and as an advisor to the Interahamwe, the militia responsible for much of the ensuing bloodshed.

Col. Sagatwa was also said to have issued orders in 1991 to kill all 1,500 prisoners inside a facility that was about to be overrun by rebel forces. The order was disobeyed.

When an airplane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down on April 6, 1994 -- seen as the catalyst for the genocide -- Col. Sagatwa was also on board and died in the crash.

The death of the president started the massacre of an estimated 800,000 people in 100 days, mainly members of the Tutsi ethnic minority by Hutu soldiers and militia.

None of that rich family history, however, is included in Mr. Seyoboka's detailed appeal to remain in Canada.

He is asking the Federal Court to intervene after being told at least six times he is not eligible for refugee protection because of Rwandan atrocities.

In 2006, the Immigration and Refugee Board found Mr. Seyoboka was complicit, if not directly involved, in the slaughter.

Mr. Seyoboka was also found to have been personally involved in the killing of a neighbour named Francine and her two children because she refused to have sex with him.

He maintains his innocence.

"Although it is true that I served in the Rwandan military, I was never involved in any way in the commission of any crimes against humanity. During all of my service I sought to protect persons who were at risk. On many occasions this placed me in jeopardy," he says in a sworn statement filed in court.

"I maintain that I was not involved in Francine's death," he says.

New documents reveal gruesome testimony as well as personal details on Mr. Seyoboka, one of several Rwandan men involved in the genocide who later sought refuge in Canada.

Mr. Seyoboka said he is from a well-connected family but did not offer any reference to his notorious in-law.

"My family had always been in the military or politics. Because of this family tradition, I attended the Ecole Superieur Militaire in Kigali and remained in the reserves when I went on to the National University of Rwanda," Mr. Seyoboka says.

During periods of fighting, he was called to active duty.

He was watching a soccer game when the president's plane was shot down and he quickly reported for duty, he says, not mentioning the death of his father-in-law.

"The situation in Rwanda was and is much more complicated than ethnic violence between Hutus and Tutsis," he says.

"My mother and stepmother were both Tutsis, and to me the conflict was political, a fight between loyal Rwandans [Hutu and Tutsi] protecting the country from the invading Rwandan Patriotic Front [Hutu and Tutsi].

"In that time and at that place I had no reason to believe I was fighting anything other than a legitimate war of self-defence."

His wife was studying in Canada at the time so he did not need to fear for her life but he drove other family members and household staff to the safety of the countryside in his Mercedes-Benz before he was assigned to an artillery unit, he says.

"Because I had helped my father and his Tutsi wife Eugenie leave Kigali, I was seen as disloyal by the Interahamwe paramilitaries who manned the roadblocks. I realized that I was in danger, just like many other moderate Hutus.

"Fearing for my safety, I deserted the army and fled."

After buying a fake passport on the black market in Nairobi he flew to Canada in 1996 to join his wife and son. He made a refugee claim but says he was too afraid to be honest.

"I saw a photo in a newspaper that showed a member of the [Rwandan Patriotic Front] working shoulder-to-shoulder with a soldier wearing a Canadian flag badge," he says. "If Canada was allied with the RPF, it would not be safe to tell the Canadians about any past involvement with the Rwandan military.

"I regret hiding my military past, but at the time I truly thought I had no choice."

Mr. Seyoboka was granted refugee status in 1996 but his military activity was uncovered in 1998 and he was investigated by the RCMP's War Crimes Unit and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

In 2006, the Immigration and Refugee Board stripped him of his refugee status for crimes against humanity and lying about his military service. He has since lost each of his many appeals.
Despite Mr. Seyoboka's most recent claims, the government is not backing down.

"Simply because time has passed and [he] has come up with a new theory of his past, namely that he was one of the infinitesimal members of the [army] that did not participate in the genocide, does not establish a breach of natural justice," Jamie Todd, lawyer for the government, wrote in a response filed in court.

The government wants his appeal dismissed.

Submitted as evidence in the case is gruesome testimony heard at the ICTR about the death of Francine.

A witness testified that on April 10, 1994, he saw Mr. Seyoboka speak with his commanding officer. He was told that Mr. Seyoboka was asking for help burying a woman who was about to be killed.

The witness said he later heard screams and when he went to investigate saw Mr. Seyoboka standing over four dead bodies lying on the clay road.

"I recognized Francine's body," and those of her children, he testified.

"One was about six years old and the other was about eight years old."

"They had smashed her head ... I think that they used a club.... The two shoulders had been broken, and both arms also had been broken."

All of the victims had similar injuries, he said.

Lorne Waldman, Mr. Seyoboka's lawyer, earlier said the testimony was discredited in ICTR proceedings and should not be relied on but he did not return recent calls from the National Post.

Mr. Todd declined to discuss the case outside court.

The case does not yet have a hearing date.

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posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 9:36 PM