Members of the United Kingdom House of Lords on Thursday announced the formation of a group that is expected to urge the UK government to bring to justice genocide fugitives who are still roaming in the country. This was highlighted by Lord Stuart Polak a British Member of Parliament during a session in the House of Lords. According to Lord Polak, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on war crimes, was formed to “look into matters relating to the presence of alleged Rwandan war criminals in the UK and the prosecution of those who participated in the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis in 1994.” The group will be chaired by Conservative MP Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell, and Labour life peer Lord Mendelsohn among others. Addressing the House of Lords, Lord Polak reiterated that, “Last year, On December 7 I raised the matter of the 5 alleged Rwandan Genocide perpetrators living in Britain. I once again called them to ensure that this matter is dealt with before CHOGM in Rwanda in June.” However, he wondered, “Could the Minister explain this delay?” With only two months until Rwanda hosts the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Lord Polak 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.” This, he said would address the matter of bringing the 5 genocide suspects to justice ahead of the CHOGM, where Governance and Rule of Law is one of the 5 key topics. The five indicted genocide suspects who have found safe haven in the United Kingdom are Dr Vincent Bajinya, Célestin Ugirashebuja, Charles Munyaneza, Emmanuel Nteziryayo and Célestin Mutabaruka. The group is accused of masterminding the genocide against the Tutsi and the UK justice system has had their indictments for 13 years. Rwanda has asked for them to either be extradited or tried in the United Kingdom but the latter has kept a deaf ear, paving way for these genocide fugitives to remain free.
