Genocide suspect working UK nursing home

A Rwandan man accused of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi is working in a seaside nursing home for elderly and vulnerable patients. According to a UK newspaper, Daily Maily, Celestin Ugirashebuja, is a volunteer at the Anna Victoria Nursing Home in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, and he passed a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

Monday, February 21, 2011
Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga

A Rwandan man accused of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi is working in a seaside nursing home for elderly and vulnerable patients. 

According to a UK newspaper, Daily Maily, Celestin Ugirashebuja, is a volunteer at the Anna Victoria Nursing Home in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, and he passed a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

He is a former mayor of Kigoma Commune, now in the Southern Province, and was in 2006 arrested but his extradition, together with three other fugitives was blocked by a UK court.

Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga, blames ‘individuals’ and organizations like Human Rights Watch for hindering extradition requests.

"I understand the Crown Prosecution Service has been our very reliable and relentless partner in trying to get this suspect together with others in the UK extradited back to Rwanda to account for serious crimes they stand accused of,” Ngoga said.

"However, these efforts are hampered by negative publicity about our country, spearheaded by individuals and some organizations notably Human Rights Watch.”

Ngoga said: "The outcome is that suspects of Genocide remain at large in a country with the oldest institutions of judicial accountability.”

Daily Mail says Ugirashebuja’s employers were unaware that he is wanted for his role in the 1994 genocide, where as a Mayor, he organized roadblocks and mobilized the killing of the Tutsi. 

According to the British newspaper, staff members at the nursing facility were shocked to learn the truth about Ugirashebuja. 

"These suspects are teachers to their children and minders of their senior citizens. It is a scenario of impasse, the impunity gap which these proponents of human rights seem to consider as an answer to their distorted perception of our country and its institutions. It is a situation we need to, and must reverse,” Ngoga said.

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