Fifth suspected war criminal in custody
Posted Jul 28, 2011 02:48:27 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Canada Border Services Agency has arrested a fifth man accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Abraham Bahaty Bayavuge was arrested Wednesday night in the Ottawa-area on his 49th birthday.
He is one of 30 men on the government’s most-wanted list of people illegally residing in Canada and suspected of committing war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Bayavuge is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, but has been in Canada since 2001. His wife and five children were given refugee status in 2004.
His refugee claim and subsequent appeal were denied, and he was ordered to be deported. His last known address was in Montreal.
“[He] was ruled inadmissible to Canada because of implication in war crimes or crimes against humanity,” says Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. “My understanding is that he was involved in a former Congolese government that was gravely implicated in such crimes.”
Bayavuge’s family says he was nothing more than an innocent computer technician working for the Congolese government.
But Kenney says, like the other 29-men on the wanted list, Bayavuge took part in war crimes.
“I have no doubt that all 30 individuals on this list would contend that they’re completely innocent of any such crimes, but the reality is that every single one of these individuals was found by a Canadian tribunal that there’s reason to believe that they were implicated in such serious crimes,” he says.
The CBSA has received several tips since the list was made public last week.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews says the list is helping them crack down on people living illegally in Canada.
“Given that many of these individuals have been in this country for four or five years or 10 years, I think it’s safe to say that the list has been very influential in determining the whereabouts and taking these individuals into custody,” says Toews.
Bayavuge will most likely be deported back to the Congo.
Bayavuge’s arrest comes just a day after Peruvian war crimes suspect Manuel De La Torre Herrera was apprehended in Toronto.
The CBSA posted the names of the 30 most-wanted people on their site.
Canadian Border Services Agency wanted list
