Retired Canadian Forces general Roméo Dallaire will take the stand in Quebec Superior Court in Montreal later Tuesday to testify at the war crimes trial of Désiré Munyaneza.

Retired general Roméo Dallaire, left, with his lawyer Harvey Yaroski, arrives at the court in Montreal Tuesday to begin his testimony at the war crimes trial of Désiré Munyaneza.
(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

Munyaneza, 40, is charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, during which 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

Dallaire's scheduled appearance Tuesday in the Montreal courtroom as an expert on the Rwandan genocide is the first time he will testify about the tragedy on Canadian soil.

The former commander of the United Nations forces in Rwanda gave evidence to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2004, when he served as an eyewitness against one of the leaders of the genocide.

Dallaire, now a senator, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his experience in Rwanda in 1994, and has attempted suicide three times.

He has admitted his testimony at the International Criminal Tribunal in 2004 stirred up painful memories.

"When traumatic events happen, that doesn't fade, that just gets clearer and clearer with the years," he said at the time in an interview with CBC News. "When I was describing these scenes, I wasn't in the courthouse anymore. I was there at the scene that I was describing."

Dallaire, who lives in Quebec City, won't be an eyewitness at Munyaneza's trial, because the two men didn't know each other at the time of the genocide. His testimony is expected to last three days.

Munyaneza, a former Toronto resident, has pleaded not guilty to war crimes charges brought against him. In the first months of his trial, several witnesses were flown in from Rwanda to testify that he was a boss in a Hutu militia unit that murdered dozens of people and raped women.

He's the first person to be charged with genocide under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, adopted in 2000.

The Rwandan father of two young children was severely beaten in his Montreal jail quarters last spring, forcing authorities to impose stringent security measures in his detainment.