Genocide: British legislator renews call for extradition of fugitives in UK

A member of the British House of Commons has reiterated the call to his government to arrest and extradite or try five men who continue to live in their country despite indictments issued against them 16 years ago. The indicted genocide suspects who have found safe haven in the United Kingdom are Vincent Bajinya, Célestin Ugirashebuja, Charles Munyaneza, Emmanuel Nteziryayo and Célestin Mutabaruka. Speaking during a recent Parliamentary seating, Conservative Party MP, Andrew Mitchell expressed concerns regard the five suspects living the UK and said that, “It is an issue that is likely to come up during the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) slated in Kigali in about two weeks from now. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected in Rwanda for the meeting among other UK government officials. Mitchell also chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on war crimes, that was last year tasked to look into the matter of the five genocidaires. “There are five alleged perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda who are living freely in the UK who have been doing so for now 16 years and have neither been extradited nor put before the British courts under our existing laws,” Mitchell told the House. He added that the issue “is bound to be asked during the Commonwealth meeting in Rwanda…because justice that is massively delay should not be catastrophically denied.” The matter regarding the five genocidaires living in the UK has come up on the UK Parliamentary floor several times. Last year, a section of British lawmakers formed the APPG for war crimes, to urge the UK government to bring to justice genocide fugitives who are still roaming in the country. Lord Stuart Polak told the House of Lords at the time that APPG was formed to look into matters relating to the presence of alleged war criminals in the UK and the prosecution of those who participated in the genocide against the Tutsi.” Polak also appealed to the Houses of Parliament and the UK Government to “lead by example”, in the context of upholding human rights and rule of law, “If we talk about good governance and human rights my lords, we should lead by example,” he said. Who are the five fugitives? Vincent Bajinya, who has now changed his name to Vincent Brown, was a medical doctor who at the time of the Genocide headed the then National Population Office (ONAPO). He is said to have been a coordinator of a militia in the capital Kigali, with several witness accounts alleging that he organised regular meetings in his home in the days preceding the Genocide where plans to kill the Tutsi were hatched. The other one is Celestin Mutabaruka, presently a Pentecostal preacher in the UK. Mutabaruka, who at the time of the Genocide was running Crête Zaïre-Nil (CZN), a forest management organisation in Musebeya, southern Rwanda, is accused of having led a gang of killers that murdered many people on Muyira Hill in Bisesero in mid May 1994, among other atrocities. The other three – Charles Munyaneza, Emmanuel Nteziryayo and Celestin Ugirashebuja– were bourgmestres (mayors) for the communes (districts) of Kinyamakara, Mudasomwa and Kigoma, respectively, all in southern Rwanda. Munyaneza and Nteziryayo, whose communes fell under what was then Gikongoro prefecture, are accused of giving orders to exterminate over 50,000 Tutsi who had sought refuge at Murambi technical school during the Genocide. Ugirashebuja is accused of commanding Interahamwe militia to kill thousands of Tutsi in his commune, according to witness accounts.

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Genocide: British legislator renews call for extradition of fugitives in UK