A Toronto-area lawyer who defended a Rwandan general in a 14-year war crimes tribunal claims the Rwandan government is threatening him with death.

Christopher Black say a member of the Rwandan National Congress in Canada told him last month there is “credible and reliable information” that the Rwandan regime has “sent a team to Canada in order to assassinate five people here,” including Black, who wrote a sworn affidavit provided to the Star.

Black says he received a similarmessage last July from two Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers he met with at Richmond Hill café.

“(A CSIS officer) informed me that CSIS was concerned for my safety as they had information that the Rwandan government wanted to kill me and they were further concerned that the Rwandan government would try something against me inside Canada,” reads the affidavit, which he swore before a Richmond Hill lawyer last month.

Black says the CSIS agents showed him a “hit list” of about 100 people who are targets of the Rwandan government. His name was 23rd on the list.

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The Star has not viewed the list and cannot verify its contents or that it exists. Candian authorities are not speaking openly about the alleged threats.

Black wrote a letter to Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney asking him to take the threat seriously. A spokesman for the Blaney’s office acknowledged receipt of Black’s letter and said Public Safety Canada “is currently reviewing it.”

“While Public Safety Canada cannot comment on operational policing matters, ‎Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies take all threats to Canadians seriously, and will take action as necessary to prevent criminal activity, and protect the safety and security of Canadians,” said Josee Sirois, spokesperson for Public Safety Canada.

Black says on the advice of CSIS agents he contacted York Regional Police and filed a complaint about a week ago. He says he was interviewed on videotape by an officer Monday night. A York Regional Police spokesperson that the force does not comment on open investigations.

“We investigate all complaints brought to our attention,” he added.

Neither CSIS nor the Rwandan High Commission responded to interview requests.

In a November interview with the Star, the commission’s chargé d’affaires Shakilla K. Umutoni dismissed allegations about threats against David Himbara, another Canadian who also says he has been warned he is a target of the Rwandan regime.

“I really don’t think I’ll take my time to discuss that,” Umutoni told the Star. “And I don’t think you should allow that in your newspaper, you know. These are like gossips, without any kind of support or documents.”

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Black says he has received previous threats but he is “very worried” now.

“I don’t know what to do frankly,” he told the Star. “This bothers me. I don’t know when they would act or if they would act or how. I have to start thinking about my security. I haven’t been feeling very secure since July.”

He spends many sleepless nights, wondering if the 14 years he spent defending Gen. Augustin Ndindiliyimana at the war crimes tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, were worth it. Ndindiliyimana was acquitted of all charges.

Black believes his vocal criticism of Kagame’s regime and his defence of Ndindiliyimana at the war crimes tribunal have triggered potentially deadly resentment.

Black is a controversial figure who holds strong views that challenge accepted wisdom on war crimes. He has argued the innocence of accused war criminal Slobodan Milosevic and attacked former international prosecutor Canadian Louise Arbour for halting an inquiry into the downing of the plane that killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi in 1994 — the incident that triggered the genocide.

His view of the genocide is far from the accepted narrative. He alleges that the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front and Kagame, then military leader, are also responsible for mass killings of political and military opponents during the genocide.

During the Ndindiliyimana trial, he cross-examined many powerful figures in the Rwandan government, including military officers, intellectuals, ambassadors, journalists, politicians and “other high personages,” reads his affidavit.

“As a result of my work as defence counsel, I have received a number of public attacks against me by the Rwandan regime,” he wrote in his affidavit.

In 2004, during the early days of the trial, he says he was told by a Rwandan government official that if he continued with his work, “I would not have long to live,” reads the affidavit.

Since then, Rwandan officials have issued statements declaring Black an “enemy of the state,” the statement reads.

“I telephoned (a CSIS agent) on the 16th of March and informed her of the new threat,” Black’s affidavit says. “(The agent) replied, after a short discussion that they were aware of the threat and conveyed to me the sense that they were reacting, but did not give me any specifics.”

The CSIS agent did not respond to the Star’s calls and emails.

Black has heard from other sources that “Canada has warned Rwanda about these threats and has refused visas to a number of Rwandans on the grounds they may be coming to Canada for improper reasons.”