UK to return genocide suspects
2008-06-06 19:08
London - A British court on Friday upheld a request to extradite four men wanted in Rwanda accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide that saw around 800 000 mainly ethnic Tutsi people killed.
A judge at City of Westminster Magistrate's Court said the men - Vincent Bajinya, also known as Doctor Vincent Brown, Charles Munyaneza, Celestin Ugirashebuja and Emmanuel Nteziryayo - should be sent back for trial.
They are all accused of genocide and complicity in genocide as well as crimes against humanity, conspiracy to commit murder, forming and leading a criminal gang and inciting public disorder.
They also face claims they were involved in "acts of devastation, massacres and looting" in the chaos that ensued after Tutsis were blamed for shooting down an aircraft, killing Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana.
Britain's Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will have the final decision on the extradition ruling, which comes after a long-running case that began last September.
The four men, who were arrested in different parts of England in December 2006, deny charges that they orchestrated killings by Hutus between April and July 1994.
"Hutu Power" movement
Munyaneza, Ugirashebuja and Nteziryayo were said to be "bourgmestres" or mayors of local communes, who organised and led the killings in their areas while Bajinya was allegedly a militia organiser in the capital Kigali.
The latter was also said to be involved in the anti-Tutsi "Hutu Power" movement and attended a series of "genocide meetings," becoming a leader in the Interahamwe militia that was responsible for much of the slaughter.
Human rights group Amnesty International said in November last year that countries around the world, including Britain, should try Rwandan exiles suspected of complicity in the genocide.
It said there were still "serious concerns" about Rwanda's ability to investigate crimes both fairly and impartially and also called for the international tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania not to transfer cases to Kigali.