The UK Crown Prosecution Service has decided to charge 65-year-old Dr. Vincent Brown, who lives in North London, in connection with crimes allegedly committed in Rwanda in April 1994, following a seven-year investigation initiated at the official request of the Rwandan government. The Rwandan doctor, who previously used the name "Dr. Vincent Bajinya," has been charged with one count of aiding and abetting genocide and six counts of aiding and abetting murder as a crime against humanity.
Frank Ferguson, Head of the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division at the Crown Prosecution Service, stated, "The charges relate to allegations that Dr. Brown participated in the genocide committed against the Tutsis in 1994. It is alleged that he directed and encouraged acts of murder and genocide carried out by others."
Brown, who was taken into custody today following an investigation launched in 2019, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court tomorrow.
"Our thoughts are with the people of Rwanda"
Helen Flanagan, Head of the London Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, announced that a series of investigations are ongoing into other individuals living in the UK suspected of similar crimes linked to the Rwandan genocide. Stating that the case demonstrates that the UK is not a safe haven for genocide perpetrators, Flanagan said, "Our thoughts are with the people of Rwanda, especially those who lost family members and loved ones in the genocide committed against the Tutsis."
More than 800 thousand Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed
Ethnic discrimination implemented in Rwanda under Belgian mandate following World War I had turned the population against one another, and in 1994, the country witnessed one of the bloodiest genocides in history. More than 800 thousand Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in massacres organized by extremist Hutus, and many of the ringleaders of the massacre were tried and convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda established by the United Nations (UN).
Meanwhile, last month, a local court in The Hague, Netherlands, sentenced a Dutch citizen of Rwandan origin to life imprisonment for his role in the Rwandan genocide.
News Source: İHA
