A 65-year-old man has become the first person in the UK to be charged with offences related to the Rwandan genocide following an investigation by the Counter Terrorism Policing War Crimes Team.
Dr Vincent Brown (aka Bajinya) of Islington was arrested and charged today (Monday, 21 September) in relation to crimes allegedly committed in Rwanda in the 1990s.
This is the first time charges relating to the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda have been brought in the United Kingdom.
Frank Ferguson, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “The charges relate to allegations that Dr Brown took part in the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. He is alleged to have directed and incited acts of murder and genocide carried out by others.
The War Crimes Team began their investigation in September 2019 after a formal request from the Government of Rwanda to investigate those allegedly involved in a genocide in the Rugenge district of Kigali in April 1994.
Following a complex and extensive seven-year investigation, involving numerous deployments and significant international cooperation, the Crown Prosecution Service has now authorised the following charges, all contrary to section 52 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001.
One count of conduct ancillary to genocide in April 1994, in Kigali, Rwanda, engaged in conduct ancillary to acts of genocide, with the intent to destroy in whole or in part the Tutsi ethnical or racial group, namely encouraging others to kill members of that group as such, and that conduct took place in the context of a manifest pattern of similar conduct directed against that group.
Six counts of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity in Kigali, in April 1994, engaged in conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity.
Brown has been remanded in custody to attend Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 22 September.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said:“To secure the first-ever UK charges related to a genocide has involved a huge amount of work and determination from officers in the War Crimes Team.
“This case demonstrates the UK is not a safe haven for individuals suspected of committing international crimes. “The War Crimes Teams remains committed to ensuring those suspected of involvement in genocide and other atrocity crimes are held accountable through due legal process.
“A number of other investigations remain ongoing into other individuals in the UK for similar offences related to the genocide in Rwanda. Our thoughts remain with the people of Rwanda, particularly those who lost family members and loved ones during the genocide against the Tutsi,”she stated .
