Canada's Rwandan community is expressing relief at the arrest of an alleged war criminal.

Desire Munyaneza, 39, has become the first person to be charged under Canada's new Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. He was arrested Wednesday in Toronto and made a brief court appearance on Thursday in Montreal, where he was arraigned. His next court appearance will be on Nov. 3.

Jean-Paul Nylinkwaya, who was in court to hear the charges read out against Munyaneza, went to high school with the war crimes suspect in Rwanda.

Jean-Paul Nylinkwaya

"When you've known someone for six years, he's been your friend and you've been through a few years together, you think you know the person. Then you hear the atrocious things that are said against the person, it's a difficult thing to comprehend."

Nylinkwaya says in the late 1990s, a fellow Rwandan spotted Munyaneza on the street in Montreal. He called the RCMP after he looked up Munyaneza's number and dialed it.

"I heard his voice on the answering machine and I knew it was him. So that was our moment of truth," said Nylinkwaya.

A court sketch of Desire Munyaneza.

"Honestly, we never thought we'd get here, we thought the best we could get would be to get him deported out of Canada."

Munyaneza is accused of raping and murdering people in the southern Butare province of Rwanda. The charges against him mark the first time the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act has been used since it was enacted five years ago.

"There are seven counts in the indictment. The first two are genocide for committing murders and serious bodily harm. The third and fourth are crimes against humanity by committing murder and sexual violence. The fifth, sixth and seventh are again war crimes for committing murders, sexual violence and pillaging," said Crown prosecutor Pascale Ledoux.

But Frank Chalk of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies says proving those crimes in Canada may be difficult.

"The jury has to be able to imagine the circumstances under which somewhere over a half a million people were butchered. It's hard for people like us in Montreal to imagine the circumstances under which neighbours kill neighbours," said Chalk.

Munyaneza is Hutu and the son of a wealthy businessman. He came to Canada in 1996 and claimed refugee status, but was turned down. He moved to Toronto about four years ago, where he was living with his wife and two children at the time of his arrest.

Dada Gasirabo, who lost relatives in the genocide, saw him last year at a concert. She says the Rwandan community in Toronto has been suspicious about Munyaneza for years. "Meeting with him, for me, was like feeling powerless because I couldn't do anything," she said.

If convicted on the charges Munyaneza could face a life sentence.