Five Genocide Fugitives Arrested in UK

Bonny Apunyu

London, November 13, 2006 – Five suspected Rwandan architects of the 1994 Genocide who have been in the United Kingdom (UK) as asylum seekers since 1998 have been arrested by The British government, the New Times said Monday.

The five Rwandese- who were all senior leaders of the Hutu militia during the Genocide- include one Vincent Bajinya, who has been allegedly working for a London-based charity as a doctor; Emmanuel Ntezilyayo, Charlesall Munyaneza and Celestin Ugirasebuja.

The Rwandese Justice Minister, Tharcisse Karugarama said Saturday that the five suspects were arrested by British police and would appear in court to determine their deportation.

“Yes, it is true five genocide suspects have been arrested and more investigations are being made to identify more,” Karugarama said on phone November 11.

“The next stage now involves going to court and after that, UK will decide either to send the fugitives to us or deport them to other countries.” He added:

Rwanda has formally requested that the British government and other European countries hand over the suspects, who face charges of planning genocide as well as crimes against humanity.

Karugarama said Rwanda is seeking the extradition of the five from Britain because UK does not have jurisdiction to try genocide cases.

“We have requested Britain to deport all the suspects and the country is willing to help us. The UK leadership has made it clear that it does want to become a safe haven for mass killers,” he said.

He said a formal request for extradition of the suspects was made five months ago and that British investigators traveled to Rwanda to assess the evidence.

“The authorities from UK confirmed our reports and went back home where the effected were arrested. Now, the Netherlands team is to verify our reports too,” Karugarama said adding that: “One suspect was arrested last week; we want everybody who committed crimes against humanity to have his day in court.”

Meanwhile, many Rwandan Genocide suspects are believed to have entered some European countries as asylum seekers after 1994 Genocide in which at least one million Rwandans were massacred in just 100 days.

Source: Agencies

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