Canadian government pursues deportation option for war crimes (01/28/96)

Canadian government pursues deportation option for war crimes

by Andrij Wynnyckyj

TORONTO - Canada's Justice and Immigration ministries are seeking to deport two more individuals suspected of war crimes. According to the Toronto Star's January 23 issue, the government has informed one Canadian citizen and one permanent resident that proceedings have been initiated against them.

Jim Mathieson, acting director of the country's federal war crimes unit at the Ministry of Justice, refused to elaborate "They [the two cases] are not at the point where we can release any details of the situation," he told the Star.

Although the official said the two new suspects have 30 days to challenge the government's notice in court, he declined to say when it was originally served, and against whom.

Officials from the Justice Ministry did not return The Weekly's calls.

In 1987, the federal government passed a law allowing for a "made in Canada" solution - prosecutions in the country's courts of war crimes committed elsewhere. In 1994, the first case under the law ended in an acquittal upheld by a Supreme Court decision that critics said made obtaining convictions difficult.

In January 1995, Canada's present Liberal government decided to depart from the policy of its predecessor. It was announced that the ministries of Justice and Immigration would act in concert to seek to strip accused individuals of their citizenship or other status, and deport them. In April and May 199S, papers were filed at the Federal Court in Ottawa, accusing four individuals of concealing their Nazi past when applying for citizenship, grounds for denaturalization and deportation.

This approach does not appear to have expedited matters. David Vienneau, the Toronto Star's Ottawa bureau chief, wrote on January 23 that efforts initiated last year to strip three men of their citizenship "are bogged down before the courts," while another potential deportee's case "is tied up in legal wrangling."

One of the men accused in May 1995 was Johann Dueck. Mr. Dueck faces allegations that he participated in the killing of civilians and prisoners of war as the deputy chief of German police in eastern Ukraine in 1941-1943.

Instead of formally charging him with these offenses, the government has chosen to have him expelled on the grounds he concealed his service in the German police when applying for entry into Canada.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association continue to voice their opposition to the use of deportation proceedings.

John B. Gregorovich, chairman of the UCCLA, said Canada is the only country in the world to have adopted an aggressive and permanent statute on prosecuting war criminals from any conflict and any time caught within its borders, but is now fudging its "moral responsibility."

He called difficulties in deporting accused criminals such as Mr. Dueck "ironic," adding that "the government's quick fix is proving anything but."

Mr. Gregorovich reaffirmed the UCCLA's belief that war criminals caught in Canada, no matter what their background, when or where their crimes were committed, should be prosecuted to the full extent of the country's criminal law.

UCC President Oleh Romaniw's reaction was terse. "We have always opposed and will continue to oppose the use of administrative measures to deal with criminal matters," Mr. Romaniw said.

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