Justice by Jury?

Let's start the week with a story hitting close to home. Jury selection starts today in Ottawa for what is sure to a be a complicated, long-lasting, emotionally draining, not to mention historic trial.

The accused in this case is 39-year old Jacques Mungwarere, arrested in 2009 in Windsor for his alleged participation in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Mungwarere specifically is accused to have participated in the mass killing in two schools and one hospital.

The case is unusual, as it is only the second case in Canada to be tried under our country's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. The case is historic, however, as it is the first time anywhere that the verdict will be determined by a jury, when the trial involves crimes of this magnitude.

I'll be very interested to see how this case pans out. The involvement of a jury was Mungwarere's choice, but I think that there's a reason that these cases are usually tried in international, specialized tribunals, such as the International Criminal Court, or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. In this country, we are shocked and appalled at the horrific "mass" killings of 4 or 5 people - how can ordinary citizens possibly comprehend the full weight of genocide? Moreover, how can ordinary citizens living in a peaceful country such as Canada put into context the world in which the alleged crimes took place? It's not as though Mungwarere was working a mundane 9-5 job, worrying about his next pay check, or the next Porter seat sale. Mungwarere would have been surrounding by equally horrific crimes, perhaps perpetrated by people his knew, friends, family, etc. It seems to be asking a lot for twelve ordinary people to, without bias, determine Mungware's fate.

UPDATE - The same day that jury selection was supposed to begin, Jacques Mungwarere's legal team announced that they have changed their minds, and would like to present their case to a judge alone, no jury. Interesting that they left this decision to the last minute, but a choice that makes sense to me nonetheless.