When Justice André Denis of Quebec Superior Court condemned Désiré Munyaneza to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years after being convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, it put a cap — for the moment — on a costly trial that took place over two years on three continents while serving notice that the legal obstacles surrounding war crime trials are not insurmountable.
Followed closely by international legal observers, the precedent-setting case may have to put to rest a widely-held perception that Canada is a haven for war criminals and may go so far as even set the stage for future prosecutions of war criminals in Canada and abroad.