RCMP say they’ve arrested an Ottawa man who’s believed to have resided in Canada for 30 years under a false identity, and who is wanted in Rwanda for his alleged role in that country’s 1994 genocide.
The Mounties said the 68-year-old man was arrested Monday after returning to Canada from abroad. Investigators also executed a search warrant at the man’s home to seize documents and electronic devices.
As a result of the investigation, the man is facing 16 charges under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Police did not list the charges.
The RCMP said their investigation began in December 2021, after they received information that a man who had been residing in Canada since 1996 under a false identity was wanted on an international arrest warrant issued by authorities in Rwanda.
“The warrant was related to allegations concerning the individual’s role in the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda,” the RCMP wrote in a news release Thursday announcing the culmination of the investigation.
The investigation “involved extensive operational and investigative efforts, as well as significant international cooperation,” RCMP wrote, thanking numerous agencies including Canada Border Services Agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and the Justice Department’s crimes against humanity and war crimes section.
“This investigation demonstrates the RCMP’s commitment to addressing immigration fraud and identity-related offences through coordinated domestic and international investigative efforts conducted in accordance with Canadian law,” RCMP Supt. Jeremie Landry is quoted as saying in the news release.
More than 800,000 people were killed during the 100-day genocide of the Tutsis, a minority group in Rwanda, from April to July 1994.