Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program

History of the War Crimes Program

• WWII Program
• Modern War Crimes Program
• The Partners
• Formal Evaluation of the War Crimes Program

WWII Program

Following World War II, large immigration movements resulted in the admission to Canada of persons subsequently suspected of having been involved in the commission of war crimes or crimes against humanity. In 1985, the government established the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals led by the late Justice Jules Deschênes which produced three lists of individuals containing 883 names. The principal recommendation of Mr. Justice Deschênes was that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Department of Justice be mandated to carry out investigations of these persons.

In March of 1987, the government responded to the Deschênes Commission Report by announcing that those alleged to have been involved in the commission of war crimes or crimes against humanity would be subject to criminal prosecution or revocation of citizenship and deportation.

Recognizing that the research required to investigate and prepare such cases for prosecution is highly specialized and intensive, the Department of Justice created a Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section (commonly known as DOJ's War Crimes Section).

The War Crimes and Special Investigations Unit of the RCMP, first established in 1985 to assist the Deschênes Commission, and now called the War Crimes Section, has continued to conduct investigations of all suspected perpetrators. This was the beginning of the part of the War Crimes Program known as the World War II Program.

At the initial stages of the WWII Program, it was necessary to negotiate agreements with several countries in order to gain access to their archives and to obtain permission to contact and interview potential witnesses, either informally or through formal memoranda of understanding. Historians, RCMP investigators and counsel from DOJ travelled overseas to search archives, identify potential witnesses and conduct interviews to further their investigations.

From 1987 to 1992, after extensive investigation, charges were laid under the Criminal Code in four cases. None resulted in convictions. The case of Imre Finta was appealed and argued before the Supreme Court of Canada. In 1994, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal, and, as a result, it became clear that it would be impractical to prosecute further cases under the (then) existing provisions of the Criminal Code.

During this period, revocation of citizenship and deportation proceedings under the Immigration Act were also initiated in the case of Jacob Luitjens. These proceedings resulted in the deportation of Luitjens to the Netherlands where he was immediately incarcerated for an earlier conviction of collaboration.

In January of 1995, the government announced a change in its approach to dealing with war criminals, shifting from the criminal prosecution of these individuals to revocation of citizenship. This effectively meant that it was no longer incumbent on the government to prove that individuals were "war criminals" but instead had to prove that they entered Canada and/or obtained citizenship through misrepresentation, fraud, or the concealment of material facts. As part of this process, a number of cases were examined by DOJ's War Crimes Section in order to identify those which possessed sufficient grounds to warrant the initiation of proceedings.

Influenced by the recommendations of Mr. Justice Deschênes, the position of the Government of Canada is that all legal options must be considered, including immigration action, prosecution and extradition. In any given case, the facts, the nature and quality of the evidence and Canada's international obligations should ultimately govern the mode of proceeding that is selected.

Since 1995, there is no real distinction between the process and policy applicable to WWII and Modern War Crimes.

A further description of the WWII Program may be found herein under the heading [World War II Program]. Recent activities may be found in the Annual Reports.

Modern War Crimes Program

The issue of modern-day war crimes and crimes against humanity became more prominent in the late 1980's. Political turmoil, internal ethnic strife, the settling of historical grievances, and religious extremism in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East caused considerable flows of refugee claimants. Within these movements were small numbers of individuals alleged to be involved in war crimes or crimes against humanity.

As a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Canada is committed to providing protection to persons who fear persecution as described in the Convention. This protection prevents refugees from being returned to the country where they have been persecuted. In turn, the Convention maintains that those who have committed crimes against peace, war crimes or crimes against humanity, are not entitled to this protection. In January 1989, the Immigration Act was amended to allow for the exclusion from the refugee determination process of individuals who were believed, on reasonable grounds, to have been complicit in crimes against humanity. In addition to denying such individuals protection under the Convention, this exclusion has the effect of reducing the time required to effect their removal from Canada.

In February of 1993, a number of changes were made to the Immigration Act intended to bring the classes of criminal inadmissibility up to date with both Canadian and international developments that had occurred in the area. Among these amendments was a provision rendering inadmissible to Canada, senior officials of regimes who have been designated by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration as being involved in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations or crimes against humanity. This provision was a response to a successful immigration application by the Iraqi ambassador to the United States. At that time, the existing grounds of inadmissibility could be used to refuse admission to persons who had been directly involved in crimes against humanity. However, persons in government who were physically removed from these human rights violations but who took part in decisions which led to the commission of these atrocities, were not inadmissible under the Immigration Act.

The Act was further amended to provide authority to deny access to a refugee hearing for persons described as war criminals or members of designated regimes if the Minister believes it would be contrary to the public interest to have a refugee claim by such a person heard. This situation occurs at an immigration inquiry where the person is brought before an adjudicator to determine his admissibility to enter or remain in Canada.

In May of 1997, amendments were made to the Post Determination Refugee Claimants in Canada Class regulations and the Deferred Removal Order Class regulations. These amendments prohibited persons who have been excluded under article 1F(a) of the Convention from accessing these additional humanitarian reviews prior to their removal.

As the issues pertaining to the entry of modern-day war criminals grew more numerous and complex, it was apparent that an improved system was required for identifying and screening these individuals. In April of 1996, three employees were assigned to a new Modern War Crimes Section within CIC. Due to the escalating number of cases and the need for supporting infrastructure, it was evident that this section required increased resources. At the same time, concerns were expressed over the increase in the numbers of persons in Canada whose files were not being processed in a timely manner. It was acknowledged that the initial identification of modern war criminal cases early in the immigration process would be the best strategy. Early detection, particularly through visa screening abroad, had proven to be considerably more effective and efficient in comparison to the work involved when a person must be removed after arrival in Canada.

Renewed Approach 1998

In the fall of 1997, the government conducted a review of its War Crimes Program. In a press release dated July 21, 1998, the following decisions were announced to improve effectiveness:

• Implementation of a government-wide initiative to increase coordination between departments; enhanced cooperation in such areas as case prioritization, compliance with international obligations, communications, and the sharing of information and expertise in order to benefit both World War II and modern war crimes initiatives;
• Substantial enhancements to the modern war crimes effort in order to strengthen enforcement activities with increased emphasis on prevention;
• An additional fourteen World War II cases would be initiated over the next three years and additional cases would continue to be developed; and
• $46.8 million would be allocated over the next three years; the government would then review the accomplishments of the program before determining funding requirements for future years. To make this review comprehensive, a program evaluation framework would be established in 1998-1999 and a full program evaluation would be conducted in 2000-2001.

Resources over the three years were distributed among departments as follows:

• The Department of Justice received $16.5 million to litigate fourteen new World War II cases and to litigate modern-day cases on behalf of CIC ($5.038 million in the first year, $5.739 million in the second year, and $5.739 million in the third year);
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada received $28.2 million to expand its capacity for prevention at posts abroad, to improve case processing in Canada, and to provide enhanced support for the War Crimes Program ($6.813 million in the first year, $12.245 million in the second year, and $9.179 million in the third year);
• The RCMP received $2 million for the investigation of modern-day criminal prosecution cases ($682,000 in each of the three years).

Subsequent to the government's announcement, a number of initiatives were implemented in the remainder of fiscal year 1998-1999.

The Modern War Crimes Program is further described at Modern War Crimes Program. Recent activities may be found in the annual Reports.

The Partners

The three original partners in Canada's War Crimes Program were Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), DOJ and the RCMP. In its news release of July 21, 1998, the government announced that steps would be taken to ensure that the three departments involved in the War Crimes Program worked more closely than had been possible in the past. To meet this requirement, an Operations Committee (known as the Interdepartmental Operations Group more fully described later) was established to ensure the effective communication and coordination of activities among the three departments. In December 12, 2003, with the transfer of the Modern War Crimes Program of CIC to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the CBSA is now the third partner of the Operations Committee.

Formal Evaluation of Canada's War Crimes Program

In approving financing for the War Crimes Program in 1998, Treasury Board had requested that an evaluation take place during the third year of the program, 2000-2001. To that end, a program evaluation framework was completed in May 1999 that identified evaluation issues and a series of indicators for the measurement of program results.

The final report on the formal evaluation of Canada's War Crimes Program was submitted on September 28, 2001. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program and to review its eternal and external outcomes by answering specific evaluation questions relating to its relevance, design, delivery, and program success levels.

A number of conclusions were presented and were taken into account by the Interdepartmental Operations Group.

The formal evaluation of Canada's War Crimes Program confirmed that since the government allocated significant resources in 1998 to the development of an integrated war crimes program, the three departments through the IOG have taken and continued to take effective measures to ensure that Canada does not become a safe haven for persons who were involved in war crimes or other atrocities.

It must be acknowledged that notwithstanding the best efforts of Department of Justice officials to bring more WW II cases to justice, the age and declining health of suspects and witnesses represent significant challenges. Despite this, investigations into these allegations will continue as long as viable routes of investigation remain open. As these cases are finalized, resources used in these investigations are redirected to modern cases.

The Government of Canada's "No Safe Haven" policy applies to individuals in Canada who are alleged to have committed reprehensible acts during a time of war, regardless of time or place. The investigations do not concentrate on any time period or conflict. All allegations are investigated, regardless of time or place.

A more complete review of the Evaluation Report may be found at the Fifth Annual Report of Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program 2001-2002.